Damien The Vampeal by RD Noland | REVIEW
This LGBTQIA+ inclusive vampire omnibus leaves much to be desired.
Synopsis
A series of three short stories.
Child Under The Stairs, Shattered Recollection, Keeper of the Forsaken
Damien, a 14-year-old orphan, discovers he is a vampeal, born of vampire and human lineage. He grapples with romantic feelings for Brian, which leads to him being kicked out onto the street from a religious foster home. Brian, overwhelmed with guilt, tries to find Damien but falls victim to a vampire himself. Damien and his newly assigned caseworker, Patrick, must save Brian from impending danger.
In the second installment, after rescuing Brian from the vampire, Damien found a new home with Patrick and his twin brother, Matt. He and Brian develop a budding romantic relationship. But Brian struggles with memory loss and nightmares from that night. Damien fears revealing his true self to Brian. Can they both be honest with each other?
In the third installment, as Damien's past is unwilling to remain buried, rumors of a pair of ghosts prompt Damien, Pat, and Brian investigate some paranormal activity down by the river. They realize everything leads back to the warehouse and the vampire. Will they help the spirits find peace and uncover the secrets that lie ahead?
My Review:
I love vampires. I especially love unique takes on the traditional lore. So when this came up as a possible read, this new (and inclusive!) offering piqued my interest.
However, as I opened the ebook, I was sorely disappointed. I pushed through in a desperate hope that it would get better. It did not.
While RD Noland clearly holds a deep and personal investment in this story, I'm rather certain that he didn't have anyone else beta read, review or edit before taking the three stories he self-published in the early 2020s and combining them into essentially a mini omnibus. His inability to pick a tense—sometimes in the same chapter—is just one of the issues with this book.
He doesn't use contractions. Not in the dialogue. And given that the main character is a teenage boy, this took me right out of the story. It felt like reading a Nanowrimo novel, where he was trying to reach a word count. Please, please, read your dialogue outloud!
He didn't use them in the prose either, which made the story plod along, reading like a book report.
Mr. Noland's writing didn't draw me in, and allowed zero investment in the characters or the story, despite the great potential of said storyline to give a nice and interesting look into what it would be like to have a half-vampire teenaged orphan in the foster system (which felt more like a plot device/prop or trope than anything else).
His main character, Damien, is boring, even though his backstory--losing his mom and being a foster kid while dealing with the puberty shenanigans about not being wholly human--had, again, so much potential. There was no real angst to him. Or passion. Or any emotion really. Why? Because the author spent so much time telling us what was going on in the blandest way (think someone reading a Powerpoint presentation).
Let me repeat: I really wanted to like this!
Here's what was good about this set of stories:
- The idea of a Renfield acting like a Watcher from Buffy or Gillermo from What We Do in the Shadows versus a mentally bereft insect eater was soooo intriguing. Did he eat insects at all? Who knows.
- Damien's journey from the foster home to a life in the care of his new Renfield, Patrick, had so much potential! Why didn't his first Renfield take him out of foster care? Why does Patrick travel with his twin?
- The whole 'bad vampire on the loose' mystery in chapter three deserved so much better movement, suspense and anticipation.
Overall, I don't believe that Mr. Nolan's universe is hopeless. He just needs some direction. All the pieces are there!
And if he does a rewrite/revamp, I would love to reread it.
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