A Drop of Scarlet

by Jemiah Jefferson

Book Overview

Ariane Dempsey is a dedicated scientist specializing in blood diseases. None of her colleagues suspect that she is also a vampire. Lately, her research has taken a very personal turn--she is trying to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0843957247
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

A Drop of Scarlet

Great book although you can't let it get the best of you with confusion. I would have to say I loved Voice of Blood, Wounds, and Fiend better but hey if she wrote every book the same nobody would get around to reading them. Jemiah Jefferson is a great writer and the details she puts in her book are so amazing. I personally think she could be the next Anne Rice, only with a lot more edge:)

A drop is all you need... (Some spoilers.)

If you are a fan of vampire novels, horror novels in general, or just gritty well-written prose about humanity and inhumanity, then this book will not displease. Jemiah has written several other books chronicling the lives of her characters, and at first they appear to be given pre-emptory glances and then dismissed at face value by the readers. Jemiah, however, does not make this mistake. Too many other writers have supporting characters that are completely two-dimensional; not so with the ones in this book series. Each book focuses almost entirely on one specific character, giving only peeks at the others' lives and psyches; this latest, A DROP OF SCARLET, brings together all of her aforementioned characters and gives them all a chance to shine as individuals. The novel follows biologist-turned-vampire Ariane Dempsey, and the story begins with the death of her sire. Ariane's lover John Thurbis is a former mathematical genius, a professor of physics at a university before a botched attempt to transform him into a vampire turned him into an insane, schizophrenic monstrosity. Ariane and John have been living for a decade in Portland, Oregon while Ariane uses all of her knowledge to try and find a cure for her damaged lover. The way that Jemiah describes John's bouts of madness are nothing short of brilliant; she captures his frantic, terrified anger at his predicament perfectly, and you will find yourself reading it with a frenzied voice in your head, picturing John's outrage at having his intelligence and wits stripped from him in a very FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON sense. Ariane cries out for help to her only other vampire friend, Orfeo Ricari, a reserved Italian vampire whose adventures were explored in the novel FIEND. Ricari is unable to help Ariane, so he stays away despite her telepathic pleas. However, every vampire in the world is privvy to Ariane's anguish, and her cries are heard by many who feel that putting Ariane and John out of their misery would be the most humane course of action. Ariane manages to concoct an antipsychotic drug for John that will work with their unique vampire metabolism, but upon testing it on herself, she finds that it brings a vampire what they want most in the world; a sense of peace and detachment from the torment of their existence. The drug works as anticipated, helping John regain his senses and calming the disorientation in his head, but at the same time the other vampires can sense the ecstacy of John and Ariane when the drug is ingested and they want a piece of the action, too. The vampires begin flocking to Oregon to sample this drug for themselves, and they'll pay any price for it. The novel is well-written, as all of Jemiah's are, but this one has a brisk pace that makes it hard to put it down. The chapters are divided by points of view, giving each character a very specific and unique voice that is thoroughly explored throughout the action. By two-thirds of the way through the novel turns into a drug met

I'm a fan of Jemiah's writing. (light spoilers)

I read her novels and her blog and although we've never met, I'm guessing we'd be friends if we ever did. I first read Voice of the Blood when I was going through a wierd period in which I found myself reading a lot of vampire fiction. I've always liked horror and I found VOTB a terrific read. Fast, easy with plenty of spice to its flavor. I like Ariane and missed her as the central character in the sequels. She was always there, but in Wound and Fiend, she was relegated to a supporting role in favor of Daniel Blum and then Orfeo Ricari. In A Drop of Scarlet (henceforth referred to as ADOS), we shift to a multicharacter focus. Ariane's research into her vampiric condition is beginning to bear fruit. Her research is about finding something to help her only-half-sane-yet-still-likable husband John who was improperly made into a vampire at the end of VOTB. And then we see some of the supporting characters to the rest of the sequels coming together. I won't say more about plot but instead focus on the writing. Ms. Jefferson's writing has matured, grown more capable of telling a complex story efficiently. I complained some time ago that I still had no idea what happened to Daniel (still reminds me for no good reason of Daniel Ash of Love and Rockets fame) at the end of one of the books (name withheld). His relationship with the sybaritic and destructive Sybil seemed destined to be the end of him...but at the conclusion of the story, I wasn't sure. Then with Fiend, Orfeo became the central focus and a character that I didn't even like all that much became my favorite. This book is very very good. All along, Ms. Jefferson's writing has been compared to that of Anne Rice except I stopped reading Ms. Rice's writing when it was clear that she'd forgotten how to tell a story anyone cared about. By the last series, could anyone actually tell the difference between any of Ms. Rice's vampires other than Lestat? But now with ADOS, we have multiple vampires. Unlike Rice, they have very distinctive voices and they're fun to read. I like the stories and have reread them multiple times. I'll reread ADOS again, probably soon...and I am very much looking forward to the next one!