Scan barcode
A review by moonpie
Fangland by John Marks
4.0
What a strange little book Fangland is. I was initially intrigued because Audrey Niffenegger had a blurb on the back, but quickly got caught up in the actual story once I started reading it.
Don't get me wrong, it does get off to a slow start, and is confusing at points in the beginning. As the story winds on, though, it's easy enough to figure out that you're supposed to be a bit confused, as it adds to the atmosphere.
The first half of Fangland reminds me of Dracula, as far as suspense goes. I was actually a little frightened in that good horror way as I got closer to the second half of the book, while the story mostly remains in Transylvania.
When the focus switches back to the US and the offices of a 60 Minutes clone known as The Hour, the suspense lightens up a little and the story isn't as... believable, I guess, as it was in the first half. I'm not sure why. It might be the diffusion of focus, from one person (Evangeline, the reporter stuck in Transylvania) to a multitude (a greedy handful of people who work in the offices of The Hour). It's still an enjoyable read in the second half, just not as gripping and creepy.
One minor complaint: calling the offices of The Hour "Fangland" seems like a shoehorned-in explanation of the title. It doesn't feel organic at all, and I wish it was just mentioned in passing, once, instead of clumsily "explained" twice (that I counted).
All in all, a good read if you're a fan of vampire novels. If you're just a suspense fan, you'll probably still enjoy it, but I think it's made more enjoyable by the allusions to standard vampire lore sprinkled throughout the novel, especially in the first half.
Don't get me wrong, it does get off to a slow start, and is confusing at points in the beginning. As the story winds on, though, it's easy enough to figure out that you're supposed to be a bit confused, as it adds to the atmosphere.
The first half of Fangland reminds me of Dracula, as far as suspense goes. I was actually a little frightened in that good horror way as I got closer to the second half of the book, while the story mostly remains in Transylvania.
When the focus switches back to the US and the offices of a 60 Minutes clone known as The Hour, the suspense lightens up a little and the story isn't as... believable, I guess, as it was in the first half. I'm not sure why. It might be the diffusion of focus, from one person (Evangeline, the reporter stuck in Transylvania) to a multitude (a greedy handful of people who work in the offices of The Hour). It's still an enjoyable read in the second half, just not as gripping and creepy.
One minor complaint: calling the offices of The Hour "Fangland" seems like a shoehorned-in explanation of the title. It doesn't feel organic at all, and I wish it was just mentioned in passing, once, instead of clumsily "explained" twice (that I counted).
All in all, a good read if you're a fan of vampire novels. If you're just a suspense fan, you'll probably still enjoy it, but I think it's made more enjoyable by the allusions to standard vampire lore sprinkled throughout the novel, especially in the first half.