A Dozen Black Roses

Sonja Blue: 4

ISBN: 1565048733 Order from: Amazon.com

A glittery and brutal story of Sonja Blue, a monsters' monster, is skillful but slighter then its predecessors.

Reviewed by David on September 06, 1998

Genre: Fantasy (Vampires)

Synopsis: In an abandoned area of a large US city, the blocks so bad the police don't respond to the calls, the streets are ruled by two brutal teenage gangs, dominated by the supreme predators: the vampires. Into this corner of Hell comes a different vampire—Sonja Blue. Like the Angel of Death, she brings the gift of destruction, and both the innocent and the guilty will be at peace when she's done...

Full Review: This book combines the universes of the Collins's Real World and the World of Darkness books published by White Wolf. While I have not read the latter, it appears the World of Darkness, populated by the vampires called the Kindred, comes with its own fairly structured history, clans and rules.

In an anonymous large city, where the inner slums hide drug dealers and muggers, despair and rage, an area called Deadtown is so bad that the city ignores it: there are no police patrols, no cleaning crews. In fact, it seems to be missing from the city maps. The Deadtown is filled with victims and predators. Even the predators are not much more than meat and cannon fodder for their leaders, whose cruelty, charisma and sheer deadliness act as magnets for the young gang members. The streets are ruled by two rival gangs: the Spoons and the Pointers. The Spoons are ruled by an old vampire Sinjon and his brood, devious and comfortable in his drug dealing. His dominion is challenged by the 191-year old young punk Esher, who rules the Pointers with an iron fist.

Into the Deadtown comes a different kind of vampire, Sonja Blue, who dedicated her un-life to eradicating vampires. In the process of manipulating the two gangs to destroy each other, Sonja nearly gets herself killed, and gets distracted by a little boy whose futile attempts to retrieve his mother from the clutches of Esher engage Sonja's ruthless heart.

If Sonja loses the battle, the only way to survive would be to unleash her Other—the consummate monster who lives inside her head.

But when the Other strikes, there is no justice, only punishment. Innocent and guilty, predators and prey, humans and monsters, friends and enemies, saints and sinners, all will bleed and die to feed the Other. Judgement day will come to Deadtown, and Deadtown will die in truth—the final death.

Collins had fun in this book—the novel almost rocks with music, and the Batmobile and the House of Esher add farcical tones to this dark and at times brutal plot. There is humor in Sonja's interaction with Cloudy and Ryan, and poignancy in the sacrifice of a despairing priest.

However, this novel, which takes place after the events in Midnight Blue, seems more stylized and less suspenseful than the earlier Sonja Blue books. Perhaps it is the shorter length, or the need to play under another universe's rules. Whatever the reason, unlike the previous novels, there is no character development for Sonja, the central character, and that makes the book less involving.

A Dozen Black Roses is still better than most vampire novels published. I recommend starting with Midnight Blue, since that trilogy will build up the marvelous character of Sonja, before embarking on this one, where she is a fully formed heroine (if that's the right term).

Universe: The Real World

Overall: 6; Plot: 6; Characters: 6; Style: 7; World-building: 6.5; Originality: 6;

ISBN: 1565048733 Order from: Amazon.com