No Blood Spilled

Having ruined the life of a previously wealthy Englishman, vampire Sebastian Newcastle makes his way to India, drawn by a mysterious urge. Here he seeks the Thuggee, believed to have been wiped out by the British only a short while ago, with plans to bring them to a new glory. Reginald Callender, the men whose life Sebastian ruined, comes looking for him, seeking to revenge himself on Sebastian. Both will soon find that India has more in store than either can expect.

No Blood's premise of vampire meets Thuggee is what attracted me to this novel, and it did not fail to live up to it. The vampire Sebastian is quite compelling; Daniels manages to make him both sinister and sympathetic. Calcutta becomes, as in Simmons' “Song of Kali,” a location which evokes the old-time Gothic dread while incorporating an element of the exotic, and the encounters between the British and the Thuggee recall Masters' “The Deceivers,” but Daniel's has less of a colonial mindset than Masters or Simmons. Overall, an enjoyable vampire novel with a unique twist.