The Blue Curtain

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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I really want to say something nice about this book – I don't like to just knock books. I don't mind saying what I think didn't work, but I try to find something to commend in a book. I'm just not sure what positive things I can say about The Blue Curtain.

We've got Mitchell, the heir of a British nobleman in 16th Century England, who begins a revolt against am improbable despot who is being manipulated by a mysterious man. One thing leads to another, and this manipulator turns Mitchell into a vampire. Almost instantly, another vampire, Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez – I mean, Fionn, shows up to instruct him in the ways of vampires. He really reminded me of Ramirez from Highlander – not only does he teach him to use and understand his new abilities, but he tells him about the history of vampires and the differing and strange factions within the race. Why his maker, who is the leader of the evil cult didn't stick around to initiate Mitchell himself, we're only told at the end. Mitchell doesn't join the crusade against the cult with Fionn, but does share the same goal and works with Fionn throughout his training. Time goes by, things happen, and eventually Mitchell finds himself in present day Portland, ME.

While we've been learning about this, we've also been learning about Emily – a high schooler in Portland, whose father was recently murdered. She's not having a good time adjusting to this new reality, and like all teens in novels, she decides that she'll find the murderer herself. Through dumb luck and recklessness, she finds the killer – but has no way to prove it to the police. She also discovers that she's descended from necromancers and has a magical imp to train her. Sure, he's evil and bent on destruction and death, but hey, you take whatever help you can get, right? There's also a lot of High School Drama – where a certified Mean Girl is causing all sorts of trouble for Emily because out-of-the-blue the hunky, rich, sensitive guy is paying attention to her.

Naturally, Emily's and Mitchell's paths cross and it becomes clear that their goals intersect, so they team up to solve the murder, stop the evil vampires and more.

It'd be great if there was any emotional depth to these characters – the crazed, hedonist vampire who is a model of emotional shallowness is just as deep as the Emily, who can't seem to hold on to one overriding emotion for more than a few seconds. Emily – yes, she's under great stress, but if I'm supposed to be rooting for a character, I'd like the character to hold on to an emotional state for more than two pages.

The book could've used a continuity edit – there are so many hiccups throughout Mitchell's story and vampire history in general that could've been cleaned up with little trouble. There wasn't a strong authorial voice, the dialogue was frequently painful, the characters were poorly drawn and shallow.

I want to say something positive, to find the silver lining, but I can't think of anything. Your mileage may vary, but I can't recommend this to anyone.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for this post and my honest opinion. Sorry about that, Mr. Metcalf.