The Ruby Tear
Review by Corvus, submitted on 06-Jun-1998

"The Ruby Tear," by Suzy McKee Charnas (writing as Rebecca Brand). Copyright 1997 by TOR Books ISBN 0-812-57132-0

Jessamyn Croft is a promising young actress enjoying a rise to fame when she is involved in a devastating traffic accident. After a long period of reconstructive surgery and physical therapy, she's nervously looking forward to returning to the New York stage. But the play that she wants to do, that she feels she has to do, is written by her former fiancé, Nic Griffin, the man who was driving the car, whose own injuries are even more devastating than hers. The man who now wants to have nothing to do with her, and has told the director not to let her act in his play.

Nic Griffin is a man with demons. Unfortunately for him, the demons are real. There's a family demon, which has haunted the Griffins for generations, destroying the oldest male in every generation. Now Nic is the only Griffin male left, and he's written his play, "The Jewel," to draw the demon out to face him. For the plot of the play is the story of the Griffin family, of how someone, or something, has tried to destroy them for generations, in order to gain revenge over something that happened centuries ago.

Baron Ivo von Cragga is a vampire. But he's not your run-of-the-mill fictional vampire. I won't tell you how he's turned, or just how he's different from the norm. Read the book if you want to know. All I'll say is that his unlife existence has been spent in trying to gain revenge on the Griffin family, for what one member of that family did to him centuries ago. And the Ruby Tear, a jewel that was stolen from him by the first of the Griffins, is the symbol of what he seeks to regain.

This is a different vampire book. It's definitely not full of gore. In fact, I thought Charnas's bloodsucking passages were downright tame. But then, that's probably what she wanted. It's obvious that she wasn't out to shock or horrify. The plot is what drives this story, not the anticipation of horror.

Because this really isn't a horror story. Sure, it has a vampire in it. And there's a demon. And there's evil. But it's more a story about several good people set against each other, and how they try to resolve the situation.

If you like good plotting, and an interesting storyline, then you will probably enjoy this. If you're looking for blood and guts, this is definitely not your book.

I do have one big objection. The vampire on the cover bears absolutely no resemblance to the description of Baron von Cragga. But then, when do cover artists ever read the books they're illustrating?