Viper By Alan Riefe

Viper
By Alan Riefe
1990 Charter Diamond
Paperback, 271 pages

 
                                              

    This is a pretty good read, told in three different sections. In the first, we meet our cast of characters, the orphaned Felicity Jane and her aunt and uncle who are raising her. This part takes place in India where the uncle is working for a year or so, and the local Zaman is their majordomo. The second part is in Hawaii where the family usually resides and concerns a rich family who were left out of their rich father’s will and may explain how Felicity Jane became an orphan. Y’see, the old man left everything to her mom, the housekeeper. The third section finds Felicity Jane, Aunt Helen, and Uncle Bill back in Hawaii and the greedy family trying to knock off the kid to get the millions.

    OK, but is this a horror story? Yes. Yes, it is. Back in India, Zaman had discovered that the young girl had a gift, a unique way with snakes. He saw her as a davi, the snake Goddess of Naga. She could control venomous snakes to do her bidding. That talent would come in handy if there was a group of people trying to kill you. And when Uncle Bill's Jeep was returned to the US, Zaman had secreted a Russell’s Viper in it for Felicity Jane, as well as some tea that may or may not help her turn into a snake goddess in the flesh.

    Things get pretty exciting with the horrible group of brothers and sisters in a cat and mouse game with the child. Felicity Jane is a badass herself and knows what is going on. She and the snake are a good team, and the greedy group of siblings are all a mess in one way or another. It is also good to see a Russell’s Viper used instead of a cobra or something more obvious. They have a formidable venom and are the most common snakebite in India. Gorgeous animals, too.

    Alan Riefe is a fun writer to read. A little florid at times, but he is a competent and smart storyteller. He has written a number of Westerns and romances under different pennames, the super-hip Cage detective series under his own name and a couple more horror books. I am more interested in his comic book work where he penned a few stories for DC’s “mystery” titles in the early 70s as well as comic adaptations of Get Smart and Hogan’s Heroes for Dell. That is a well-rounded scribe in my opinion. This edition of Viper also gets points for the great Lisa Falkenstern cover!

Blood Flies By Gene Lazuta

Blood Flies
By Gene Lazuta
1990 Charter/ Diamond
Paperback, 265 pages

    
                                              

                I just finished this book and I have absolutely no idea what I just read. Never have I slogged through a more confusing book.

                OK… here’s the gist. Pete Blackwell is summoned to Sharthington, Ohio in a dream. His grandfather had basically built the town and discovered an old Indian legend living beneath Black Island. Oh, and there’s a tower on the island. Anyhoo, Pete’s grandad experimented with this legendary life-form, mixing the DNA with other animals, creating new, weird animals.

                The Blood Flies? They’re described in many different ways, but mainly like toads with wings. They secrete a poison that Kyrik, the bad guy-sheriff, milks to sell and do his own nasty experiments. The flies themselves aren’t even mentioned after the half-way point. Kyrik doesn’t last much longer. The last third of the book is the old Indian legend taking over.

                Or something.

                Now, the story did hold a kernel of interest in it for me, but Lazuta overwrites to the point of parody at times. Conversely, some elements are glossed over so I had no idea what he was “talking” about. The story has an epic scope but seems only partially told. An early 10 pages of exposition told by a drunken sot sets it up, but it still never became clear for me.

Overwriting and senseless prose; a case in point, talking about a girl that Kyrik was holding captive for vivisection (yeah, I know…):

                “She wore a pair of dark trousers, with cuffs— Kyrik always liked cuffs, Pete didn’t think, he just knew, somehow, without thinking, he wasn’t thinking, he just… was— and her shirt was pink.”

                I shit you not. I didn’t change a thing.

                At the end of Part 2, the story pretty much seemed like it should end, but no… there were 100 more pages of word soup to go. Other than some cool mutated animals in the beginning of the section, the third part drags on and on and on. I had to power through to finish it. No fucking clue what went on. Cool cover, though.

                Sorry, Gene. I won’t be looking for your other books.