|
|
Reviews
|
||
|
|
|
What folks are saying about Evenings on Dark Island: |
Review by: Kim MacQueen, Special to the Tallahassee Democrat,
December 26, 2010
At first, it seems as if "Evenings on Dark Island," a novel co-authored by Tallahassee writers Rhett DeVane and Larry Rock, is light on character description. The action and explication start right away on the first page, after some super-quick stage-setting descriptions of the Florida flora and fauna that grace novels like Carl Hiaasen's.
In fact, "Dark Island" reads a lot like a Hiaasen novel, just a little looser. The novel's omniscient narrator follows several characters as they wend through their week at a decadent spa for the rich and famous run by a gay, middle-aged vampire. Its authors have labeled it — with a nod to all the vampire-laced fiction and movies that have dominated the last few years — as a "fang-in-cheek romp."
After the initial scene is set and we've met everyone at this ill-fated spa, you realize as a reader that the story isn't light on characters at all — their details are merely meted out little by little, page by page, kind of like how it happens in real life.
Take Vincent, a relatively kind-hearted, wistful man who watches "True Blood" on DVD, plays Wii and worries after the health of his patrons even as he drinks their blood. Vincent can't shake off the sense of impending doom as he gets ready for one of the biggest parties ever held on Dark Island. He's also conflicted about the arrival of his blood sire, a loose cannon who shows up outfitted as Paris Hilton, complete with Chihuahua.
Then there's Reanita, a DEA agent disguised as the daughter of an oil baron, who arrives to check out reports of midnight drug deliveries and gets blitzed on champagne and pot brownies in her first hour on the scene. An attorney-turned-spa gardener prepares blood feasts for his boss and is so ugly he hides behind a beekeeper's hat 24/7. We can only assume that the character of Lars — who runs the production company gearing up for the island's super-gala and is in charge of an all-island evacuation when disaster strikes — is the alter-ego of co-author Larry Schmidt, aka Larry Rock, who runs Tallahassee's Production Support Group, or PSG.
The book is enjoyably silly, with self-conscious, farcical dialogue. ("You don't suppose the one whose name shan't be uttered and her stable of miscreants are getting ready to descend, do you?"). It's available via Amazon.com (and most other online vendors) as a paperback and via www.smashwords.com as an e-book.
Review by: Donna Meredith, author, president of Tallahassee Writers Association
If you think the trend toward vampire novels has surely run its course, you should try one more before you quit. The vampire spoof, Evenings on Dark Island, by Rhett DeVane and Larry Rock, breaks all the vampire stereotypes and is guaranteed to have you laughing.
...Millionaires pay big bucks to come to the spa and be revitalized by secret potions distilled by Vincent’s groundskeeper and all-around go-to-guy, Arby. Like Vincent, he is lonely and unloved, though he finds acceptance for the first time in his life from his boss.
Throw in Reanita, an undercover FBI agent searching for a drug-running operation on the island; Emmaraud, a female vampire so bored by immortality she’ll do anything for a lark; and the NASCAR-loving, juke-joint-owner vampire Jimmy Rob; and almost anything can happen on Dark Island...
Review by Susan Womble, author, winner of the 2008 Gold Medal Florida Book Award
Rhett DeVane is a master at funny and her new novel “Evenings on Dark Island” cements her into the humor writers’ hall of fame. The story is a ride for all ages. Tweens will “sink their teeth” into the vampire themes, as adult readers enjoy a glimpse into the political and entertainment industry through the spa clientele including laugh-out-loud characters, a NASCAR-loving vampire, and rat-faced caretaker. Intertwined in all this craziness is a turn-the page mystery involving a clueless DEA agent investigating illegal activity. A story well-told, humorous and modern through the eyes of the reluctant vampire spa owner with the heart(?) of gold. Well done, Rhett!
Review by:
Roberta Burton 
Rhett DeVane took the current vampire craze and created a spoof, set in Florida,
with a delightful cast of characters who charmed me for a week-end. Vincent
Bledsoe III, a vampire, owns the Spa on Dark Island, which caters to the very
rich. His sidekick and manager of the spa is Arby Brown. The book portrays one
week, the length of stay at the spa, prior to the annual Blue Blood Ball to
benefit the American Hemophiliac Association. The guests include an actress, the
wife of a senator, an actor, and an imposter, an agent from the Drug Enforcement
Agency. Added to the mix are kooky vampires who come and go. These are not your
scary traditional vampires, muddling and meddling ones who create havoc. If you
want a fun read, I highly recommend this one.
Review by: Gale Massey, MS, author of Grief...reminders for healing.
If you want to take a wild ride through Florida’s luscious and primitive landscape, Evenings on Dark Island, a new book by Rhett DeVane and Larry Rock is your magic carpet. Along the way you’ll meet Arby Brown, the rat-faced resort manager, and Vincent Bledsoe III, a reluctant vampire who takes on the task of fund-raising for hemophiliacs, a cause near and dear to his heart. Turns out that Vincent is everybody’s favorite best gay friend and might well be the most heartwarming vampire in print.
Dark Island is an exclusive resort set on Florida’s coast, a place where smugglers operate under the cover of darkness and things that go bump in the night may also devour you. The story begins with the arrival of guests; a feisty undercover drug enforcement agent, an anxious Hollywood starlet, a scorned politician’s wife, and an aging movie star. Vincent and Arby try their best to contain the drama while preparing for the island’s biggest gala of the year. Things are manageable until Emmaraud, a take no prisoners kind of vampire, and her blood thirsty Chihuahua, Diente, show up. Add to that a redneck vampire who lives for NASCAR and speed and you’re set for a wild week that will surely end in cars crashing, hearts being broken, lovers being crossed, and bodies disappearing in the night.
DeVane and Rock create this eclectic cast of characters as though they’ve lived next to them for decades. But this is Florida, so maybe they have.
Get ready for a fast paced, toothy adventure!
Review by: Cheryl C. Malandrinos
If
Fantasy Island
was set in Florida and hosted by a flamboyant party planner turned reluctant
vampire, you might just get a taste of what
Evenings on Dark Island
Patrons return each year to the Spa
at Dark Island where the many amenities rejuvenate and replenish them and
provide an escape from their real lives. Vincent Bledsloe is their smoking
jacket wearing, Cuban cigar smoking host, who along with his rat-faced gardener,
Arby, and the tight-lipped but pleasant staff, caters to the clients' every
need.
Enter DEA agent Reanita Geneva Register, posing as the daughter of an oil baron
to uncover illegal activities on the island. This week she is spending time with
an actor well past his prime, a vamp starlet, and the wife of a well-known
senator. If Vincent and Arby can keep their newest guest, Ms. Register, from
tramping through the trails and being attacked by alligators and bitten by
snakes, perhaps planning for the Blue Blood Ball will go off smoothly. Well,
that is if Vincent can keep a redneck NASCAR loving vampire away and tame his
high-maintenance vampiress lover and her ill-tempered undead Chihuahua.
In this entertaining vampire spoof, authors Rhett DeVane and Larry Rock have
combined the vampire craze with everything southern, tossing in some quirky
characters along the way to bring you a book you'll want to read more than once.
I had read DeVane's earlier work (The
Madhatter's Guide to Chocolate
Rock appears to have provided a great deal of research to this novel in the form
of party planning and gardening. The reader soon discovers that the rat-faced
Arby, who has been accepted by no one until Vincent came along, is in the midst
of preparing the largest event of the year, the Blue Blood Ball. He also mixes
and breeds different and unique species of plants, many of which he uses in his
herbal remedies.
...I loved this book. I think the television show
Angel ruined me to read
anything serious about vampires. I absolutely devoured that show and fell in
love with the brooding Angel, who was cursed with a soul. The thought of picking
up one of the Twilight books turns my stomach. This
fang-in-cheek novel is much more my style.
Evenings at Dark Island is
definitely a book worth spending time on.
Read more of Cheryl's reviews: The Book Connection...
|
Laughing all the way to the blood bank! Review by: Malcolm R. Campbell
What do the rich and famous, a Florida swamp, an expensive upscale spa, a rat-faced dog, state-of-the-art galas, NASCAR, pot, an inner garden of rare hybrid plants and vampires have in common?The standard answer is nothing....But in Evenings on Dark Island authors Rhett DeVane and Larry Rock have turned the highly improbable into a hilarious and tastefully bloody neck biter that’s quite something.
The authors advertise Evenings on Dark Island as a fang-in-tooth spoof of the vampire genre. And what a spoof it is. This book is not only inventive and well crafted, but it’s filled with the kinds of one-liners and puns that will even wake the undead...The plot, characters and setting work to perfection without blood, gore and body counts. While the spa at Dark Island may not be the transfusion you need for your physical health and well being in real life, DeVane’s and Rock’s collaboration has a high-clotting factor as well as the kinds of hijinks that will have you laughing all the way to the blood bank.
Read Malcolm's full review on his website: Malcolm Campbell Editorial
Evenings on Dark Island--not just another vampire spoof! Review from Vampires.com
This time in book form; ‘Evenings on Dark Island’ tells the story of one hell of a day spa. The book was written as a light comedy about vampires by two Florida residents, –people who know the spa life better than anyone else. Evenings on Dark Island has a great plot, and sounds genuinely funny, –unlike 20th Century’s upcoming spoof film, which sounds, well… just embarrassing. Not to mention, insulting to vampire lovers everywhere. It’s hard to find a vampire comedy that really allows even the most dour fans to smile a little, and laugh at the genre some. Read more of this review
©2010 Rhett DeVane/Larry Rock