Wednesday, October 22, 2014

The Quick: A Novel by Lauren Owen




First, let me say that The Quick is not - quick that is.  The first quarter of this novel seemed interminable!  It begins with a brother and sister being raised by servants and a series of governesses on an isolated British estate.  "How Gothic!" you might think.  You'd be wrong.  There's tons of atmosphere, but little happens. The absentee father dies, leaving the son a pile of money and the estate so he goes off to an exclusive school then heads to London to try his hand at writing.  The daughter, meanwhile, gets squat since she's a female and spends several years nursing an ailing aunt who takes her in.

Many reviewers have referred to The Quick as a modernized vampire tale.  The only modernity apparent to me is the homosexual relationship in which the brother becomes involved (before he becomes a vampire) with a tortured metaphor about the fact that being a vampire is as socially acceptable as being gay in Victorian London.

Now, to the vampires.  The actual vampire story is fabulous.  There are two social classes for vampires in London, the wealthy and the poor.  The wealthy vampires only admit men and only those of a certain class. The poor have vampires of all ages, both men and women.  The novel finally starts rolling with the introduction of vampire hunters who become involved with the sister's quest to find her missing brother. There is action, suspense, intrigue...all of the things a reader hopes for in a book. There is a surprising turn of events at the end which is quite satisfying.  

Overall, I would recommend this book, but I'd also recommend skimming the first 25%.  It will seem much more entertaining that way, and much more "quick"

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