Art in the Blood - Introduction and Chapter One

[kalinara]

Sorry for the delay. As usual, I have an excuse: I couldn't think of which book I wanted to review next. I definitely intend to get to the next book in the Cleric Quintet, but I like to have a little bit of a break before I continue with a series.

Then I realized that it's been a good hundred years or so since I reviewed the last Vampire Files novel.

This is one of those review series that's really more for me than for any of you. They're quick, easy, and generally of pretty good quality. (Even the one I thought was kind of mediocre turned out to be awesome once I realized I'd missed the point. - See my review of Bloodcircle's last chapter to see what I mean.)

But anyway, it'll be interesting to see where it goes. This is one of those series that I read when I was much younger, somewhat out of order (depending on which books I could find at the library or used book store), and thus I have a very shaky memory for most details.

I remembered a lot of the first three books since they're kind of an enclosed trilogy, centered around Jack, his relationship with Maureen, and what exactly happened to her. But now we know. And there are nine books left. So what are they?



So we start off pretty evocatively, with Jack feeding.

Hungry and careless, I’d opened the vein more than necessary and the blood slipped past my mouth and dribbled down the animal’s leg. I shifted my right hand above the wound and applied pressure, which slowed the flow, and continued with my meal, siphoning off more than usual because I’d been on short rations the last few nights. I drank my fill and more, the excess partly due to curiosity; I wanted to know if I’d swell up like a leech or if I could get away with fewer feedings per week. The cow didn’t mind, she could afford to spare a quart or more—there’d just be that much less to spill out when they finally slaughtered her for someone else’s dinner.

I did miss Jack's knack for imagery, I'm just imagining a vampire swelling up like a leech.

I also missed Jack's fastidiousness, as he cleans up with a handkerchief, then goes into mist form to spare his shoes as he exits the stockyards. We're told that he always varies his route into and out of the place, even though few people believe in vampires, it never hurts to be careful.

Also, to be fair, Jack is a dude who spent his first two books: getting murdered by a mob, and then being stalked by some wacky vampire hunters. Dude has earned a bit of paranoia.

Jack realizes that he's got bloodstains on his fingers and decides to go to Escott's office to borrow his washroom. But the lights are on, and Jack isn't up for company, so he moves on.

Instead, he goes to the Nightcrawler Club. His clothes are a bit too ordinary, but the bouncer lets him in when he says he wants to see Gordy. Gordy, if you recall, was the primary henchmen of the mobsters in Bloodlist and he was helpful in seeing to Gaylen's end in Life in the Blood.

We're told that Gordy's redecorated since Jack's last visit and everything's all shiny black with chrome trim.

Gordy comes out to see Jack and they exchange some pleasantries. Interestingly Jack's the one who asks if there's somewhere quieter where they can talk though he doesn't give us an idea as to why.

Oh...this is interesting.

He apparently recalled the last time he’d seen my bloodied eyes. “Trouble with Bobbi?”

“No.”

“Another woman?”

I couldn’t tell if he was being perceptive like Escott or if it was simply the next logical question for him to ask. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“I killed her.”

The news didn’t exactly send him into a panic. “You need protection, a cleanup job?”

“No, nothing like that.”

Hah, it pays to have mobster friends, I guess. And in fact, Gordy asks if he needs to talk about it.

It's interesting that Jack is coming to Gordy, a mobster albeit a friendly one, to talk about things than Escott or Bobbi. So, we get a kind of recap of the end of Bloodcircle here:

“So talk,” he said. He wasn’t the soul of encouragement, but he settled back into the depths of the sofa to listen. I gave him a short version of how I’d killed the young woman and why I’d done it, just stating bald facts and not bothering with any defense. During the story he stared at yet another painting above and behind his desk, his eyes hardly blinking the whole time.

The vagueness is intriguing. I suppose Ms. Elrod wants to spare us the repetition of things we probably already know - one usually doesn't read the fourth book of the series as a standalone after all. And after a few other authors, I can appreciate that.

But still, it's interesting that Jack calls Laura "the young woman". And we don't hear even a summary of his reasoning. If I was a new reader, I'd have no way of knowing that Jack had basically put down a serial killer that was too meticulous and wealthy to ever face human justice.

Jack thinks Charles probably knows, but isn't saying anything. Gordy approves of that and asks about Barrett. Which indicates that Jack apparently went into a LOT of detail for him, though not for us. Barrett seems to have taken the suicide at face value.

Gordy asks how Jack's taking it. Jack isn't really able to answer it.

Gordy's got his own interesting wisdom here. He asks if Jack remembers the war, and yes, Jack had fought in it. (There's a tangent noting that Jack, as a vampire, doesn't look old enough. If you recall though, Jack's thirty-six in actuality, and this book takes place in the 1930s. The war they mean is World War I.)

And this bit is interesting.

This confused him, since I didn’t look old enough, but he continued. “You fight? You have to kill?”

“Yeah, I see what you’re getting at. This was different.”

“Why? Because it was a woman and in a nice house and not out in a field of mud with the noise and cold? She was killing people. You had to stop her. What’s the problem?”

“Living with it. Why me?”

He shifted his sleepy-looking eyes from me back to the painting. It was a soft overview of a farm near sunset, in one corner a boy was leading two plow horses back to the stable. “When I was a kid, I once knew a retired hangman. I asked him about it. He knew how to do it better than anyone else but he didn’t think much about it, it was just a job to do. I can’t say he enjoyed it, but he knew he was doing his part in making things cleaner.”

It seemed an odd statement coming from him, considering how he came by his living. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. You either learn to live with it or you go crazy. Make up your mind.”

So here, a new reader FINALLY gets the reasons for why Jack did what he did. Kind of.

Gordy is a really interesting choice of confidant here. Escott would have made as much sense, and we know he'd understand it. He's got his own potential for darkness and very much steers toward pragmatism over practicality.

But maybe there's more to it. When Jack asks about him, Gordy says he's only a businessman. When Jack compares it to Capone, we get this:

“Huh. He never talked about the dirty side of the business, not where he could be overheard. He’d pretend it wasn’t there. Maybe that makes him crazy. I know it’s there, I don’t enjoy it, but I’m good at it. And I’m not crazy.”

The humor was more pronounced, but under it was something hard and very cold. The base of my spine went stiff as I suppressed a shiver.

One of the aspects I've really liked about this series is the way it reinforces the idea that being a human or being a monster is not a reflection of someone's morality. Vampires, thus far, have been few and far between. But humans? Gaylen was a monster long before she became a vampire. And others: Gordy is congenial enough, but he's still from the same family as the more brutal Morelli or Lebredo. And then there's little Laura...

Jack's a vampire and he's done some questionable things, but he's not a monster yet.

So we zip forward a few nights. Escott's come to say hi, with a newspaper and chinese food in hand. After first dealing with a troublesome lock, they settle into a pleasant conversation.

Poor Escott is suffering from his current inactivity. The job he'd been working on (an extremely little one) is resolved, and now he's got little to do. He waxes eloquently about the difference between inactivity and boredom.

He registered mock surprise as he toweled dry. “Most certainly. One cannot help inactivity, but boredom is a self-inflicted disease. I firmly believe there is a special Providence watching us all for signs of boredom, the moment we declare ourselves in that state some disaster will occur to take our minds right out of it. The last time I was bored was the year 1920. I was carrying a spear, so to speak, in the court of King Claudius…”

He's referring to Hamlet, by the way. Per the story, the trapdoor used for the ghost wasn't latched right and poor Escott had fallen right in. So now, he's schooled himself to patience when it comes to inactivity.

It's a bit of magical thinking that seems oddly whimsical for Escott.

Anyway, Escott asks about Jack's social plans: deduced from Jack having taken more care with his hair, wearing a new shirt and tie, and wearing after-shave and with his shoes shined.

Basically, Bobbi and Marza have been hired to sing and play at a party, and they're allowed to bring dates. It's being thrown by an artist to celebrate a show at his fiancee's gallery.

Interestingly, Escott recognizes the name of the artist: Leighton Brett, and hands Jack the newspaper, which has an article with pictures of Brett and his fiancee (a cool-faced woman named Reva Stokes). It also shows Brett's work, one of which: a farm scene looks an awful lot like the one Jack saw in Gordy's office.

Escott is a bit surprised that Jack went to see Gordy, and Jack makes a note to ask about the artist. Escott suggests it could also be Brett, and they chat about artists painting the same scene twice. Per Escott, there's a second Mona Lisa, which Jack disbelieves immediately. (Apparently there are theories about this, and the Isleworth Mona Lisa has a wikipedia entry that's a pretty good read. I'm not sure if this is the one Escott means or not. But it's a good way to kill an evening.)

Sadly, the discussion is sidetracked when Jack realizes he's late. (And really, he's more worried about making Bobbi late and costing her a job.) But he makes it in time to join Bobbi, Marza and Marza's date, Madison Pruitt.

These characters were introduced in Life in the Blood. I don't really remember a lot about them, I think Pruitt's a Communist, kind of in the way of a college vegan stereotype - probably good ideas, but not having quite developed the best rational follow-through yet.

And oh...well..., this is an interesting peek at the times:

Bobbi brought out a much-folded scrap of paper and called directions, while Madison tried to engage me in a political discussion. He had taken great stock in last Wednesday’s rumor that Hitler was planning to retire and turn the chancelorship over to his air minister, Goering. I didn’t see that it would make much difference, but all the way along Michigan Avenue he argued passionately in favor of keeping Hitler in charge of things.

“I thought the Communists didn’t like Hitler,” I ventured when he paused for breath.

“We don’t, but Goering would be worse. He’s better educated and a trained military leader. As soon as they finish practicing in Spain his air force is going to be bombing Paris next. Don’t forget the German army moved into the Rhineland zone only last March—”

You ever read something and it hits harder than you expected.

Anyway, Marza tries to cut Pruitt off, but Jack says he's interested in hearing people's opinions. And we're told that Madison continues with his political observations for the rest of the trip, and "Occasionally, he even seemed to make sense."

So we get a good look at the shindig. Lots of people are already there. Marza gripes about the lack of valet. But this is what we see:

The exterior of the house was comfortably ugly, built of large slabs of gray stone in the shape of a mock castle, complete with a crenellated roofline. The grounds were formal and well kept, with only a few early leaves skittering in the wind over the gray brick driveway. I paused under a huge covered entry to unload the others, then rolled out again to find a parking space. Space found, I strolled back up the drive with a few other arrivals. Some were in formal clothes and looking smug about it; another group was dressed for an afternoon in the yacht basin and looking equally pleased with themselves. I overheard one of the formals also complain about the lack of parking valets, but no one else seemed to mind. Bobbi was waiting in the entry for me and slipped a possessive arm through mine.

Pruitt, we're told, had dragged Marza off when he spotted friends. Bobbi notes that for all his dad's money, he could afford to buy some manners. Yeah, that tracks. Jack dismisses him as "still a kid", though Bobbi notes he's over thirty.

Jack and Bobbi have their own cute flirty bit that ends with a public kiss (don't worry, Bobbi's very on board.) I did miss them.

So they go inside. Jack recognizes Reva Stokes from the newspaper photo and she greets Bobbi and leads her to piano. And we maybe get a hint of some couple dynamics:

“The long hall, I’ll take you there.” She turned and led the way, talking over her shoulder. “It’s the largest room we have, but I’m afraid the acoustics are terrible. Leighton refused to have the piano moved.”

I love this sort of quick bit of dialogue that paints an immediate picture of what's going on, long before we even meet the guy.

Bobbi and Jack head in, hand in hand (aw), when Bobbi is greeted by a white haired man named Titus Noble, leader of the string quartet. He's pretty outspoken and flirty. He asks if Jack is "in the rackets", which Jack denies, identifying himself as a writer.

Titus whispers, playfully, that she shouldn't marry him until he has three bestsellers under his belt. Unfortunately, they need Marza at that point, so Jack goes to extract her from Madison's friends. Jack actually stays to listen a bit, but decides that Pruitt had stopped making sense and wanders off.

So we get to hear about the music. Jack's ears are apparently too sensitive to really enjoy the violin, even though he recognizes Titus is an expert player. Then Bobbi and Marza play, and of course, Bobbi's a hit.

We find out that the music line up is Reva's idea, setting up different styles to give everyone something they like. Bobbi thinks it's meant to reflect "her husband's" playing style. (I'd thought they said fiancee, earlier, but perhaps Escott's info is out of date.)

Madison turns up and chats with Jack a bit. And interestingly, as hinted before, Jack doesn't seem opposed to the idea of communism (or at socialism) in general, but thinks it'd only work if everyone was in it voluntarily and stuck with it. And that, everyone has an opinion and generally think theirs is right.

Madison asserts that he is right, loud enough to get Jack to shush him. Like I said, college vegan. Good ideas, but not really mature enough to separate the good idea from his own ego yet.

After some more musical bits, Bobbi and Jack go out for some air. The garden is lovely. And Bobbi's picked up on something interesting:

“Not with the hours I keep. Did you mean that when you told Titus you were a writer?”

“It’ll do until something else comes along.”

“What do you write?”

“Your name across the sky in diamonds.”

She laughed at the image, no doubt expressing her good taste.

“Would you like some?” I asked.

“What, diamonds?”

“Yeah.”

She sobered. “What girl wouldn’t?” But her tone was off.

“You don’t like the idea?”

Bobbi doesn't like the idea of diamonds from Jack actually, because it reminds her too much of her relationship with Slick Morelli. Bobbi, as usual, is not apologetic about her past, but this is different and she wants it to stay different.

Now the thing that I note is Jack's deflection. He said writer because it was the closest thing he could claim as an out of work journalist. But he's not, is he? He's never really mentioned any sincere desire to write since becoming a vampire. So what does Jack want to do?

It seems maybe, based on his deflection here, that he might not know.

Anyway, the garden's quite nice. And things are very romantic. And well, Jack's form of sex nowadays is considerably easier to conceal. So Bobbi asks if he wants to go for it.

Jack's actually a little hesitant, feeling vulnerable. But Bobbi points out that it's very dark and anyone would just see them necking. So...

The chapter ends with a garden quickie! Well done, you two!