eternal

Eternal (2004)
$14.94
Beauty, excitement and seduction. Elizabeth Kane can give you all that, but all she asks for return, is just your blood.

When Montreal Detective Raymond Pope discovers his wife's involvement with this mysterious and wealthy woman, he is both repulsed and drawn into her personae and her strange world. As his investigation delves deeper and closer to her secret, threatening her quiet existence, Elizabeth begins a psychological killing dance. Her obsession spills over to Pope, who's growing frustration and fascination with Kane nearly drives him over the edge. But Pope is not deterred, despite his instincts that Kane is not only dangerous, but a killer and even as those he loves are either killed or turn against him. It becomes, ironically, Elizabeth that becomes his focus, pushing him to go to extremes to keep his sanity and clear his name of crimes he has not committed, but also holding onto a life he knows will never be the same.

Kinky. Blood and death. Sex. Beautiful cinematography, great costuming and set decoration (especially for the last scene in Venice), stellar soundtrack--even good acting with an interesting twist to the Erzebet Bathory lore, it had all the makings of an above average, never-heard-of, pseudo-vampire movie. If only the story line had more depth, more character driven scenes and a little more background details of the history and the characters, Eternal could have really broken the usual mold.

As such, the fixation of the classic male fantasy (girl-on-girl action), S&M bondage, and ego (Pope is quite the player), it was actually done with some flair and taste, rather than cheesy or seedy. The story is about Pope and Kane, and everything and everyone else fades away, which is why the story itself can seem chaotic and meandering. It's about two worlds clashing, about two people fighting for survival, and at the end of it, you're not quite sure who won, or if it's even possible.

Conrad Pla as Raymond Pope, who's entry into Kane's world, is both maddening yet inescapable. His character is aggressive, gritty and unapologetic and well played. It's an interesting juxtaposition with Caroline N���ron as Elizabeth Kane, a la Countess Erzebet Bathory, who was mesmerizing to watch and listen to, always sensual and never crude. Power is not just about the sex or in the sex but through blood, and the binding power of attracting prey and getting them to want what they can't possibly understand they are giving up. Under the fear of growing old and no longer beautiful, is also a woman tired of running, a woman who knows that what she is and what she does, will never change, and nothing will ever change her. She is who and what she is, good or bad, or brutally ugly. It is through N���ron's take on a centuries old real life woman, that makes this movie stand out.

There are no extras and no soundtrack available, which is a shame. The music set the mood and tone, both adding to the tension and the action, but never getting in the way.

Hit or miss, it'll at least make you raise your brows, or make you blush. Either way, you'll be watching, eyes wide open.

Tantalize
$8.99
Tantalize is a very interesting book. After I closed the cover for the final time, I poked around on Amazon to see if others shared my view, and found a surprising number of single-star ratings. Although the book isn't perfect -- and the characters are far, far, FAR from perfect -- I don't think Smith's novel deserves that strong of criticism.

In Tantalize, 17-year-old Quincie has a lot of balls in the air. She's just starting her senior year and is trying to juggle school, her frustratingly slow-moving romantic relationship with her best friend, Kieren (who just happens to be half-werewolf) and the re-opening of her family's restaurant after her parents' recent death. She's a highly organized and ambitious girl, and a very likeable character. In the world Smith has created, were-creatures and vampires are a somewhat accepted part of life, although still running on the fringes of society. That's why Quincie thinks her new vampire-themed restaurant will be a huge hit in the more accepting community of Austin, Texas.

Unfortunately, just days before opening, Quincie's long-time family friend and head chef, Vaggio, is brutally murdered in the restaurant kitchen. This violent event begins a series of changes that leave Quincie reeling, and change her life forever.

Smith does a fantastic job of making her heroine into a dynamic character. She changes dramatically throughout the course of the novel, and the writer is gifted at slowly changing her voice and language throughout to reflect those deeper changes. There's a major plot twist toward the end of the book that I somehow completely missed, too, so I found the book to be full of surprises.

I enjoyed the short chapters - they really helped move along the pace of the book -- and the newspaper clippings, menus and other devices used by the author also added a lot of interest. However, I was very disappointed in the abrupt and unsatisfying ending. It reminded me very much of the "resolution" to Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely series books. To put it simply, there isn't much of one. As readers, we're left hanging to hope that Smith ties up some of the obvious loose ends in her subsequent books.

Overall, Tantalize is a delicious read -- but it did leave me wanting a little more. It did a good job of wheting my appetite for the next two books of the trilogy, but I felt this first portion of the story could have been a little more developed.

One word of caution, however: as an adult reader of YA novels, I had no problems with this book and really enjoyed some of the spicier content. However, as a mom, there are a few things in the story that would curl my toenails if I found out my 12 or 13-year-old were reading it. I think this book is more appropriate for older teens, as there is a fair amount of drinking, gore and mature subject matter in the later chapters.

Eternal (Clare Point)
$6.99
My title is my bias for this vampire novel ... and I read a lot of them. My failing point, I'm sure, is comparing the new spate of vampire-oriented fiction to original fiction such as written by Anne Rice, Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris & such. All the vampire was taken out of these vampires. They can eat, drink, be in the sun, and sleep like ordinary mortals. What's the fun in that? It's the limitations ... and strengths ... of vampires that make them interesting. These vampires also, apparently, live a life cycle, die & are reborn. So, pretty much these are human vampires. Which makes them ... well, uninteresting.

That said, Eternal is a pretty good, easy read. It's pretty much nothing more than a whodunit, decorated with Fia, a vampire & FBI agent, Glen, FBI agent & soon to be lover ... who remarkably resembles an old lover of Fia's who betrayed her family ... and various denizens of Clare Point, the cloistered community in which the sept lives. The characters are likeable enough, and none really get on the reader's nerve.

Eternal will never be in my top vampire-oriented novels, but more in the middle. The jury's still out as to whether I'll read the 2nd book.

Undying (Clare Point)
$15.00
I received this book as a gift before I realized I was a Vampire Book lover. Therefore, when I read it, I had few prejudices about the genre or the popular authors. I liked this book very much and just found out that it was the 2nd in a series. After seeing the reviews for the first book in the series, I plan to purchase it and the third book in the series, as well. The plot was well developed and I liked the characters very much.