They live among us, abhorred, marginalised, despised. They are
vampires, known politely as Sunless. The job of policing their community
falls to the men and women of the Sunless Housing and Disclosure
Executive – SHADE. Captain John Redlaw is London’s most feared and
respected SHADE officer. But when the vampires start rioting in their
ghettoes, and angry humans respond with violence of their own, even
Redlaw may not be able to keep the peace. Especially when political
forces are aligning to introduce a radical answer to the Sunless
problem, one that will resolve the situation once and for all…
I have heard a lot about the book of James Lovegrove, who is well
known for his “Age of .. series” and have been wanting to read some of
them for quite some time now. After finishing “Blood Oath” by
Christopher Farnsworth I got a taste for that sort of vampire fiction.
Where the romance is left out and the focus is on action. I found this
in back in Redlaw but on top of that also a nice display of engaging
storytelling and a great character John Redlaw.
Redlaw takes place in a London that has both humans and vampire, or
how they are referred called in Redlaw “Sunless”. The sunless do not
reign free but are detained in several Residential Area’s. These area
host a number of sunless, but the areas are not blocked from the world,
instead they have a fence around it and the perimeter is guarded by a
special task force called Sunless Housing and Disclosure Executive,
SHADE in short. It is their task to make sure that the humans are not
harmed and that the sunless are similarly not harmed. It was pretty cool
to read the prologue of Redlaw where you see a young boy near the
fence, who takes a leap over the fence and there is reference “To keep
them out” but this isn’t implying what I thought it was. This great
introduction got me grounded to my seat, I just had to finish this book.
In the midst of this all you get to meet up with the main protagonist
John Redlaw. When I first got to read about him stepping out of the car
I just new he was bad-ass. But I was only partially correct. John
Redlaw is a complicated character with a rich past. What I liked about
him was that he was not a all powerful rookie. John is past his prime,
but due to his experience and honed skill he can surely stand his man in
fight. Next to having quite the awe-inspiring reputation on the
sunless, he also is a man of faith going for the preacher type. You
could clearly see that some of his discussions were based on his faith.
What was striking to see is that he was more of a guardian for both
factions instead of being an all avenger for the humans. I found this a
great feature of his personality, that as the story progresses, John
perspective changes more due to a nice set of events, occurring both in
the sunless society and SHADE. But what still leaves me with some
questions about John is, I know his partner was killed by sunless but
has he become bitter by this event of is there more to it? And what of
his family, doe he has or had any? Or is his sole devotion to his work? I
am very eager to find out if he had a wife and a family but due to an
event of the sunless they aren’t anymore?
As I mentioned John is not the all avenger that has to eradicate the
vampire threat. Others in SHADE however are. One of John colleagues,
Khalid, takes a great joy in “dusting” the vampires and it is in this
difference in personalities that there are several clashes; from
arguments to fights between John and Khalid. I discarded the tension
between Khalid and John as an addition to the storyline and showing the
determination, conviction and history and John character. In the end
there was nice play into the hatred against the sunless into the
plotline. Some other people in SHADE are also not what they seemed to
be.. A nice unexpected twist led up to an interesting turn of events.
Showing John in what he does best.
In Redlaw you see two point of views, the first being from John
Redlaw but the other from Giles Slocock an member of the parliament. As
you follow John you see a interesting view of his vision of the vampire
infested London. But with the addition of the government into Redlaw
really made the story for me come together. The parliament has there own
plans for the sunless, bordering more on the sunless hater side, there
are plotting to do something terrible to the sunless society. With the
plans clear to John he is doing everything he can to stop this from
happening..
Another addition in the world that James Lovegrove created was that
not only is SHADE upholding the law. Next to SHADE there are also the
Stokers, a sort of vigilante-like order that has its mind on putting a
few stakes through some escaped vampires. Opposite the Stokers is the
PETS, who fight for the ethical treatment of the sunless. With the
political and citizens additions into Redlaw it just feels more than a
standard run of the mill vampire story. James Lovegrove created a great
concept and utilized it in more than one way with Redlaw.
In the end Redlaw really made my day. Showing again a nice take on
vampire fiction but with a full-tilt action (Cindermakers, aqua sancta
grenades and Allium sativum bombs, any takers?) and bloody violence
backing it up. But also offering more. In Redlaw, James Lovegrove has
created a great concept showing an vampire invaded and contained London
that both has supporters and rebels to the rights of the vampires, a
stronger than ever main protagonist John Redlaw, and to top it off a
great fast paced and engaging and movie-like writing style. Recently the
second book has come out Redlaw: Redeye and I cannot wait to start on
it.