Futile Flame (Vampire Gene, #2) by Sam Stone

Futile Flame (Vampire Gene, #2) Reviews

• 
  Stephen Theaker

  Gabriele Caccini, "Italian by birth and vampire by nature", is on the road with great-many times over-granddaughter and lover Lilly. Pursued by a mysterious being with the ability to sap their strength from a distance, they search out another of their kind, Lucrezia Borgia, whose death in 1519 is revealed to have been the moment her brother, Caesare Borgia, turned her into a vampire. Most of the book is then given over to an account of Lucrezia's seduction and rape by Caesare, and the consequences of his actions. For the most part this is quite literally a bodice-ripper, with more rape than a Richard Laymon novel, though the last quarter takes a detour into wholly unexpected territory.
  
  Stone’s vampires are very tough. They are described as eternal, and, while not invulnerable, regenerate quickly enough to survive immolation. They are pained by sunlight, but not destroyed, and have chameleon powers. Visible in mirrors, they use their lungs to breathe air and blood flows through their bodies. Their bites tend to produce instant orgasms in their victims, and though they feel slightly bad about eating people they don't let it stop them. Three quarters of the way into the book it’s revealed that Gabriele and Lilly can fly, though I’m guessing this wouldn’t have surprised me had I read Killing Kiss, the previous novel in the series. Their advantages over other literary vampires are balanced by their reproductive difficulties, with, it seems, only those possessing a certain gene being able to survive the transformation.
  
  That, and the notion of Lucrezia using her fangs to rape others as she has been raped, are the only slivers of originality in the book, though admittedly that wouldn't matter so much if this was the kind of thing I really enjoy reading. There's nothing here that you won't have seen a hundred times before. Even the final part of Lucrezia's story, though surprising in this context, offers little that's new when considered in isolation. Unfortunately the clichés extend from the plot to the prose: skin is generally olive (apart from one man who is "arrogant and shifty and of mixed race, though I can’t tell what mix"), tears are salty fluid, waves crash gently, bodies ache with desire, breasts are full and pert, and the frequent sex is all "soft folds", "pulsing warmth", "female moisture" and gushing orgasms.
  
  Written in the first person present tense (aside from the flashbacks, which are in first person past tense), the book takes itself very seriously, and like its central figure is completely humourless. There's also a tendency to overdescribe everything. For example one typical passage reads:
  
  "Here there is another television at the bottom of the bed on a rich mahogany unit with a DVD player and stereo: all the media conveniences any visitor could want. The bed is plush, covered in rich brown and cream cloth, with cushions resting on the brown velvet-covered headboard. Either side of the bed are two mahogany side tables. To my left is another mahogany unit, bigger than the one holding the television. I open it to find a fridge and safe. As I close it I spot two more doors, one leading to a full sized bathroom, again in black and white, which contains a bath as well as separate double shower cubicle."
  
  The layout of these rooms never becomes an issue in the story. Later we learn that Gabriele "has OCD", which is the "curse of the vampire brain", something that's been suggested in other vampire stories. Though this curse isn't apparent from his actions, perhaps the over-description is a deliberate reflection of his character, as in Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho. If so, it never goes on quite long enough to become funny, as it does in that book, but does go on long enough to make this book a bit of a plod at times.
  
  On the other hand, some things could perhaps have been described better; I reached p. 43 before realising with a shock that Gabriele was male, which had the unfortunate consequence of making an interesting relationship (between two female vampires, one brooding, one giggly) much more conventional (brooding bloke, giggly girl).
  
  For a small press book the number of errors isn’t unusual, but there are more than you'd expect in a book that credits three editors: may for might, laid for lay, complimentary for complementary, incongrous, obsurd, too lapse in my duties, chaise lounges, wreck havoc and so on. But they wouldn’t have affected my enjoyment of the book, had I been enjoying it. If you were disappointed when Anne Rice decided to “write only for the Lord", this may fill the gap. If Anne Rice bored you to tears, best stay clear.
• 
  Fenixbird SandS

  Michele Lee's comment (in group Literary Horror-What are you Reading?): "Nancy, you should know that negative reviews DO sell books, because sometimes the one thing you dislike is something someone else adores. That's why I try to be so specific with why I dislike something in reviews, because there's a good chance someone else will actually like it.
  
  Also, I just finished Futile Flame by Sam Stone, which reminded me very strongly of an Italian version of Ann Rice's The Vampire Lestat. Next up on my list is Magic Bleeds, the latest in a post apocalyptic urban fantasy series, by Ilona Andrews. I love this one because it's a lot different than others, most obviously because "vampires" aren't sex symbols, they're mindless monsters that necromancers possess and ride around in. I rather like that take on things."
• 
  Dumpy Unicorn

  Just finished this book this afternoon and I have to say I really enjoyed this one too.
  
  Where the first novel focuses on Gabrielle the second novel concentrates on Lucrezia (yes Borgia) and her story. I have to say Sam Stone doesn't shy away from tough storylines and the second chapter might be rather tough for some readers.
  
  The pace of the novel is quick and I've had to do a few things one handed the last couple of days just so I could see what happens next.
  
  The last third of the novel really takes an unexpected turn and I'm not 100% convinced by it, it's quite a departure to what has gone before, what I will say is that it hasn't made me any less determined to read the third in the series.
• 
  Neil

  Another cracking horror read from Sam Stone. Whilst Killing Kiss #1 was a modern urban horror, Futile Flame #2 fleshed out more of the background plus it had more fantasy elements to it. Demon Dance #3 is next!
• 
  Terry Martin

  This one was shortlisted in the British Fantasy Awards 2010 for Best Novel so I'm not the only one to have enjoyed it.
• 
  Laura Summers

  Reviewed for
  www.BookChickCity.com (7 out of 10 on the blog)
  
  Just like the first book in this trilogy, 'Futile Flame' is a dark, dark tale of obsession. While the book begins and ends with Gabriele and Lilly our main characters from the first novel, this is Lucrezia's story.
  
  I found Lucrezia slightly aloof in the first book, but her tale is a bitter and terribly painful tale of survival and in the end I enjoyed it far for than Gabriele's. There are lots of elements in this book that does at times make it uncomfortable reading. With scenes of abuse, incest, rape, violence, murder and gore be warned it is not for the squeamish. But despite the difficult elements explored in this book it was very readable and un-put-downable, even, in certain sections.
  
  Lucrezia's story opens in sixteenth century Rome, set in the Vatican. The daughter of a corrupt Pope, she falls victim to her brother's macabre and brutal seduction. Lucrezia is so terribly innocent that her journey from abused young girl to woman is a painful one. This is a relationship that ends up defining her very existence, and one even in immortality she is unable to escape.
  
  The narrative is a turbulent ride, you cruise from watching Lucrezia the victim, to Lucrezia the stalker, vampire and murderess. Perhaps one of the least savoury parts was Lucrezia's change from rape victim to rapist herself. But the clever nature of the writing is that there is something compelling and seductive about witnessing this transformation. Interestingly, despite the dark nature of the vampire, at the heart Lucrezia still wishes to be a good person.
  
  The relationships in this book are at best strange, the revelation at the end of book one about Gabriele and Lilly is addressed and when Lilly discovers it, she doesn't appear to be in the least bit bothered. I found I struggled more with this than reading the scenes of incest between Lucrezia and her brother.
  
  Of course, the whole point of Lucrezia retelling her story is to find out who the demon stalking Gabriele and Lilly is. And the last chapters of the book take a very unexpected turn. There is little I can say here without giving away too much, but it does move the story into a place you could never guess it would go, it's also quite surreal. I'm not quite sure how I felt about it, it felt perhaps a little too far fetched for me. Yes, I know I'm reading a book about vampires! But, I think the scenes will become more defined and hopefully make more sense in book three.
  
  I do have to comment on a quote on the back cover of this novel: "Recommended for fans of the Twilight saga." Other than the fact that this book is about vampires, it is in no way like 'Twilight', in fact I believe it is totally unsuitable for a young adult reader.
  
  VERDICT:
  
  This trilogy is a different twist on the vampire story. Vampires are put firmly back in the horror genre, they are a species to be feared and are above the normal rules of society. Despite some of their horrific acts, you are seduced and absorbed into their lives. A book I would definitely recommend to horror lovers.
  
  I'm very much looking forward to finding out how it all ends in 'Demon Dance'.
  
• 
  Michele Lee

  I was given this book to review.
  
  
  Remember back when vampires were definitely creatures of horror, bound to humanity, yet whole apart from it? Welcome back to that time, with Sam Stone's Futile Flame, the second in her Vampire Gene trilogy.
  
  In the first book readers met Gabi, a two hundred year old vampire, on the hunt for a perfect mate who instead ends up with Lilly, the last person he expected to survive his killing kiss. In Futile Flame a monster stalking Lilly and Gabi pushes him to re-explore his roots, now armed with the knowledge that Lilly was, in fact, his own mortal descendant. Gabi hunts down his maker, Luci, once an infamous member of the Borgia family, terrorized by her own brother and finally turned in a vicious black ritual. Surely Luci has some idea to the identity of the beast that now threatens her entire vampiric family and how it became what it is today.
  
  With all the style and charisma of Ann Rice, but less indulgence and crazy, Futile Flame is a sensual, deadly tale of immortals, sins and the unknown wrapped up in a vivid take on the past. Stone's characters capture the same studied, immersive style, a sense of being in love with every detail of the world around them, past, present, or even future, that readers fell in love with in Rice's intensely detailed earlier works, as well as the long standing charm of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Count Saint Germain series. Rich, enticing and utterly charming Stone's vampires are ambrosia to horror fans hungry for the good old monstrous vampires who look, walk and sound like us, but hold our deaths in their gaze.