  Writer, editor for IGW, pen and ink artist, New Yorker,
rhymer most witty, John Charles has submitted for your enjoyment a
review of a ghastly tale.Dark Callings: Bloodlines  |
| Dark
Callings: Bloodlines by Elizabeth Jewell ISBN 1-59596-019-8 Published by Changeling Press LLC Dark Callings is a homoerotic vampire-themed novella, 58 pages in length. It’s a story-driven book with gay erotica, rather than a piece of erotica used to support a story. A quick read due to its short length, those who prefer to read from a hard copy can do so, since printing out this eBook is neither time consuming nor prohibitively expensive. Without any real preface, the book gets off to a quick start, with the main characters meeting in a gyrating club called the Gomorrah, where guys are engaged on the floor in a variety of sexual acts. Riordan is a vampire-hunter, not quite human, yet not fully vampire; Roarke undoubtedly is. They meet for a casual quickie, and then, to Riordan’s surprise, he invites Roarke to accompany him back to his apartment. In time we learn exactly what Riordan is, what he is doing, and why he is conflicted about having Roarke as a newly acquired partner in the hunt. Jewell’s erotica is well done, as is her story. For readers who enjoy the idea of a man (or vampire—or not quite either) with an insatiable appetite, Riordan will satisfy that. The story can’t afford to take any unnecessary turns due to its short length, and it doesn’t; it’s kept well reined-in, and adheres to its storyline. Jewell’s dialog is similarly sharp, tight, and quick, and her handling of it is an asset to the read; it’s quick-witted and appealing. She has succeeded in creating a story with main characters, a plot (their mission to kill errant vampires) and inner conflict within one of them, and a conclusion. In fact, the book succeeds so well that one is left somewhat disappointed that it’s so short. Jewell might have done the story, that’s full of potential, a real injustice by writing it as a novella. As a full-length novel, she might have been able to give her characters and the story the time needed to develop more fully. Nevertheless, even within the constraints of this format, her work is a fast-paced very readable, attention-getting, attention-keeping story. Despite the necessity of introducing the characters so quickly before moving on to the story itself, it’s the characters themselves, and their strange connection to each other that’s the real attraction for the reader. Dark Callings is a good story of vampiric gay erotica, well written, with interesting and original twists, and yet it’s the interaction between Riordan and Roarke that are the main attraction. In short, they ‘make a nice couple’ if one can say such things about a vampire and a…well, you have to read the book to find out what Riordan is. It’s well worth the read to find out. |