"A vampire story with a twist"
Jamie Sommers was born in sin during World War II. His
father died overseas while serving his country, but never
married Jamie's mom although the parish priest Father
Nolan believed he intended to do so. In 1950, Jamie's
mother Colleen dies. Only eight, he is removed from his
Bronx home to live with nuns who believe he is a child of
sin. Several years later, a very disturbed Jamie joins the
US Navy and eventually becomes a criminal. Jamie survives his life at sea having fought pirates and
run guns for the IRA amongst other shark infested
adventures. His life changes when he arrives at Hawkes
Harbor, Delaware looking for reported pirate treasure near
Hawkes Hall. Grenville Hawke tries to kill him before
hiring him. Jamie quickly calls Grenville the Thing or the
Vampire. Several years later, Grenville is paying for
medical treatment for his servant Jamie with Dr. McDevitt
of the Terrace View Asylum, who hears quite a bloodsucking
story. Highly regarded young adult author S.E. Hinton (see THE
OUTSIDERS) takes her youth tales and places them in an
adult setting (to include ???sex??? and profanity). The
story line is actually told in flashbacks as Jamie talks
about his life with McDevitt especially how he met his
employer when Hawke stepped out of a coffin to drink his
blood. Readers will enjoy the plot twists and along with
McDevitt initially wonder if Jamie is so deranged as to
believe in the supernatural, but after a time so
convincing ponder whether Hawke is truly a vampire. Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted September 13, 2004
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted January 22, 2007
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