Gregg Eldred

Looking for something a little "different," I picked up a copy of Fangland by John Marks.

Evangeline Harker is an associate producer for the long running, New York-based, television show The Hour (think 60 Minutes). She isn't happy that her current assignment is to go to Romania, and do background on a well known, but little seen, criminal, Ion Torgu. Part of the unhappiness is that she just got engaged. The other part is that she is an associate producer - one of the lowest rungs in television news (long hours, very little pay). And then she has issues trying to get to the appointed meeting on time. After meeting with Torgu, Evangeline goes missing for several months, but she does turn up - a long way from her earlier destination and without her memory. While she was missing, some strange items were delivered to The Hour offices. And the employees are slowly losing their minds.

Marks employs some unique methods of telling the story. First person, e-mail, instant messaging chat transcripts, and journals. This allows the reader to experience the story from many different views. But, in my case, created some initial confusion.  When first introduced, I needed a few moments to figure out who was talking and to determine the method of communication. Marks keeps each of these different methods unique to specific characters, so when you come across the next journal entry, for example, you know who is talking to you.

This was a very good horror novel (we are talking about vampires, by the way). Set in the present day, using current technology, it shows that you are not safe from ancient evil. By providing you with different viewpoints, Marks really draws you into the story. But at the same time, I wish that he had spent more time with Evangeline, as it seemed that the reader had to fill in some blanks. Overall, a very creepy novel.

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