Of Saints and Shadows (1994)
Read Of Saints and Shadows (1994) Online
Authors: Christopher Golden
Tags: #Fantasy, #Fiction, #General, #Horror, #Vampires, #Private Investigators, #Occult & Supernatural
| Of Saints and Shadows (1994) | |
| Shadow Saga [1] | |
| Christopher Golden | |
| Ace (1993) | |
| Rating: | ★★★★☆ |
| Tags: | Fantasy, Fiction, General, Horror, Vampires, Private Investigators, Occult Supernatural Fantasyttt Fictionttt Generalttt Horrorttt Vampiresttt Private Investigatorsttt Occult Supernaturalttt |
In this present-day vampire novel, the vampires, or "Defiant Ones," are being hunted by an ancient Vatican group trained in sorcery who carry out their extermination with sadistic pleasure. Peter Octavian is a Defiant One who has sworn off the "blood song," drinking only hospital discards. For his belief that humans are not cattle, he has been ostracized by his own vampire family, but when he sees the pattern of vampire deaths he tries to gather his erstwhile fellows into a resistance movement. As the Vatican cabal begins its sorcerous attack, most of the Defiant Ones join Octavian in fighting off demons and banshees in a huge clash amid Venice's yearly carnival. The Defiant Ones win the battle, and the novel ends with the beginning of a new era in which vampires and humans will try to coexist in peace. Unfortunately, with the exception of Octavian and a few of his friends (e.g., a charmingly feisty undead Buffalo Bill Cody), the vampires are as unappealing a group of sadists as the cabal. Reasonably entertaining for vampire fans, but perhaps too big a story for one volume; the author might have done better with a continuing series.
Combine a Boston P.I., the Vatican, and vampires, and what do you have? A novel-and a series-that will appeal to fans of Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, and Dan Brown.
‘Golden’s book is the template for a score of books that have been published in the years since its publication. Many of those books have been bestsellers. Reading
Of Saints and Shadows
again, I was amazed how many elements now familiar in the vampire and thriller genres appeared in
Saints
first. Golden’s imagination and expert plotting wove these elements into a startlingly original book, as exciting to read now as it was when it first appeared on the rack.’Charlaine Harris
Praise for THE SHADOW SAGA
‘Christopher Golden has reinvented the vampire myth into non-stop action, suspense, and fascinating dark fantasy. [He’s] an imaginative and prodigious talent who never lets genre boundaries hold him back’
Douglas Clegg, author of the
Vampirycon
series
‘Filled with tension, breathtaking action . . . and a convincing depiction of worlds existing unseen within our own’
Science Fiction Chronicle
‘Harrowing, humorous, overflowing with characters and plot contortions, abundantly entertaining . . . a portent of great things to come’
Douglas E. Winter,
Cemetery Dance
‘Golden combines quiet, dark, subtle mood with Super-Giant monster action. Sort of M.R. James meets Godzilla!’
Mike Mignola, creator
of Hellboy
‘A breathtaking story that succeeds in marrying gore and romance, sex and sentiment. A brilliant epic’
Dark News
(Paris)
‘The most refreshing books in the vampire genre since Anne Rice wrote
Interviw with a Vampire
, [Golden’s novels] are completely in a class by themselves’
Pathway to Darkness
‘Passionate . . . excellent . . . and a surprise explanation for vampires. Brilliant’
LitNews Online
‘Wildly entertaining . . . like mixing Laurell K. Hamilton with the dark ambivalence of an H. P. Lovecraft story. The pacing is always pedal-to-the-floor, the main characters are larger than life and the demons and other assorted monstrosities give Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos a run for their money’
Barnes & Noble Online
First published in the USA by Jove Books, 1994 and by
Ace Books, 1998
First published in Great Britain by Pocket Books, 2010
An imprint of Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
A CBS Company
Copyright © Christopher Golden, 1994
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
No reproduction without permission.
® and © 1997 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.
Pocket Books & Design is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
The right of Christopher Golden to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
Simon & Schuster UK Ltd
1st Floor
222 Gray’s Inn Road
London
WC1X 8HB
Simon & Schuster Australia
Sydney
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library
ISBN 978-1-84739-924-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-84739-947-2
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Printed in the UK by CPI Mackays, Chatham ME5 8TD
This novel is dedicated to my wife, Concetta Nicole Russo Golden, without whose love and support it might never have been conceived, and certainly would not have become a reality. In a world where the daily horrors are more terrible than any fiction, our life together has given me the strength to stand on principle, to hope for the future, and to pursue our destiny with tireless passion, optimism, and confidence. Indeed, fools rush in. May we always be fools.
Like many other books, especially other first novels,
Of Saints and Shadows
took years to write. Over that time I’ve accumulated a long list of people whose contributions, or simple support, were invaluable not just to the evolution of the book, but to my evolution as a writer. Some of them are mentioned below, but a whole host of others were just there for me when I needed them to be, or shared my enthusiasm at a critical time. I thank you all for that, and hope you realize who you are without my having to tell you.
Special thanks to my wonderful agent, Lori Perkins, and to my equally wonderful editor, Ginjer Buchanan.
And to my family: Connie, Mom and Peter, Jamie, Erin and Eileen, Nana, Mom and Dad Russo, Julie and Michael, Veronica, Nona, and all the Goldens, Pendolaris, and Russos, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, etc. With gratitude to my good and loyal friend, my nephew Carlos Westergaard.
Acknowledgment and thanks are also due to:
Clive Barker, Steve Bissette, Jay Cantor, Georgina Challis, Matt Costello, Steve Eliopoulos, Jeff Galin, Craig Shaw Gardner, Ray Garton, Glenn Greenberg, Rick Hautala, Nancy Holder, Albert Jimenez, Pam Jungling, Joe Lansdale, Alan Lebowitz, Betty Levin, George Marcopoulos, Rex Miller, Stefan Nalhanson, José Nieto, Philip Nutman, Lisa Scarlett, Mark Tillinger, Elissa Tomasetti, Bob Tomko (for help and contributions far beyond the call of duty), Steve Williams, Doug Winter, the Cairns and Plumer families, and all my amigos at BPI (is there a
Doctor
in the house?).
I hope you’re all proud of the monster you helped create.
MANNY SOARES WAS GETTING JUST A LITTLE sick of pushing the damn broom. Twenty years in the secretary of state’s office, and he was
still
pushing the broom. He let it fall with a clack to the tiled bathroom floor. He needed a smoke.
Manny lit up as he walked into the word-processing area—he would never smoke in one of the private offices. The lights were off, he had finished the room an hour ago, but it wasn’t completely dark. There was light from the stars and the bright moon—a beautiful clear night, and tomorrow it was supposed to snow, but who knew, with the track record of Boston’s weathermen. His only comfort on the job was that row of windows. Looking out, as he often did, Manny thought more in five minutes than he did for the rest of the day. Damn beautiful.
He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray on Tara’s desk. Cute girl, that. He wondered if Roger was still in the office, and went into the hallway. Sure enough, the lights still burned in the corporations department, and Manny was not surprised. Roger Martin. Now there was a man who did not know the meaning of the phrase “quitting time.”
“Am I gonna have to clean around you again?” Manny asked, leaning against the door.
“Not tonight.” Roger stood and slipped on his jacket. “It’s time to go home. Though I could sure use a drink before facing the wife.”
Roger picked up his briefcase and moved some papers from his desk to Sheila’s; she was the department manager.
“Have one for me,” Manny said as he shook out another cigarette.
“One of these days they’re going to bust you for that,” Roger said, motioning toward the pack the maintenance man was slipping back into his shirt pocket.
“The hell with it. Nothing they can do. It’s not during work hours. Want one?”
“Love one, but I’m trying to quit. I don’t know why, I don’t really want to. Peer pressure, I guess.” He laughed.
“Suit yourself,” Manny told him, and lit up.
Which was Roger’s cue to leave.
Roger whistled as he rode the elevator down. He was trying to decide whether he would actually go out and get a little drunk before heading home. Home had not been a place where he liked to be sober lately. It was not that Julie and he had been fighting, though they did their share. It was worse. It was
cold.
And they didn’t know what to do about it. Life at home was basically pretty tense.
Aw, to hell with it. Why shouldn’t he go? It had been a while since he had been out after work. Downstairs and out onto the street, swinging his briefcase without noticing it, Roger continued to whistle, and to think.
He turned left at the courthouse, and the Publik House was two blocks away. A young couple came out, arms around each other, steamy laughter visible on the air. God, was he envious. It had been a long time since he and Julie felt as comfortable in each other’s arms as those two kids did.