Fangland

This is a new a completely new take on the old monster. Comparing this book to Bram Stoker's Dracula beyond the structure and a few scattered similarities is doing both a disservice. Certainly the author offers an homage to Stoker with certain story elements, as all vampire stories must do else there be no real reference for the casual reader to recognize. But this is a unique and uniquely modern novel in every way. I will let other's summarize the book for you, but instead just give my take as a jaded, constant reader. This book is one of very few I would read more than once because a) it was so good the first time and b) I actually think that a second reading would be even more revealing and powerful given how the story so defied my expectations. The author has written a very sophisticated and seductive work. It is very literate and very smartly done. The best thing about this book is that it takes the thread of an idea that has been so overworked and actually makes the idea riveting and fresh in a new skin. Fangland offers you many gifts as a reader: mounting, suffocating dread, truly shocking horror, likeable and hate-able characters, a mature and subversive sensuality and even moments of dark wit to name but a few. Frankly, in hindsight, this is one book in which I would rather have not even read the jacket summary (it shouldn't have one because you can't convey the richness of it in a couple of paragraphs) and had just dove into the story and let it take me completely by surprise with no preconceived notions. Maybe the jacket summary could have simply said "The Silence of the Lambs meets Dracula meets The Office" and then let your mind take it from there. And while I would love to see this on the big screen, I can't think of a single living director who could tackle it. It would be destined as yet another case of "the book was better". Do not miss this treat. You do not have to be a horror fan to love this book. You have only to be human. *** Update: "Das Films and Blumhouse Productions are teaming on an adaptation of John Marks' novel "Fangland" that is shaping up as a star vehicle for Hilary Swank, says Variety." Due in 2009, the two-time Oscar Winner will play Evangeline Harker and her production company will also co-produce the film. No word yet on who will direct or who will play Ion Torgu that I can find.

Gripping. Several times I thought I would not finish the book, but just had to read it to the end.

I picked up this book thinking it was some kind of YA novel, but this is not your average Buffy book. The touchable characters, both fiendish and friendly, chilling imagery, and masterfully woven plot had me immediately hooked. The tongue in cheek analysis of today's post 9/11 media added an extra layer of intrigue. A patchwork of different voices and a marvelously drawn heroine, Evangeline Harker, kept me turning pages. I'd definitely recommend this for a special friend on Valentine's day or even as a belated V-day gift. A good book shows thought, flowers don't.

I bought the book because I love the cover. The book's description was intriguing, but it's not the general type of stuff I usually go for--vampires and like that. But the plot was so satisfyingly complex, and Evangeline is such a winning character with an edge unlike most other heroines that I got hooked very quickly and it wasn't long before I couldn't put it down. I don't know what you call this kind of a crossover between literary fiction and fantasy, but I wish there were more like it.

Well, think again! In this amazing, weird, genre-bending and -blending, different-from-any-other-book-you're-likely-to-read novel, you'll get to know a particularly nasty specimen. Forget the teeth - this vampire uses a saw and a bucket. But FANG LAND isn't only a smart and frankly terrifying retelling of Bram Stoker's classic (which it is indebted to on a structural level, too); Marks uses the foil of the vampire novel to say some pretty serious things about why our media suck. (Excuse the pun.) And he does so with a satirical edge that is all the sharper because he used to be a producer for 60 Minutes himself. A great read and more profound than you'd think. The cover is spectacular, too.