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459pp, 6" x 9" trade size paperback
cover by Jade
$23.50 (paperback)
$33.50 (hardcover: due)
COVER NOTES
Step into the glittering midnight world of the ancient ... the immortal ... the vampyre!
Intrigue murder and madness welcome Captain Vincent Bantry home to the City of London. The year is 1892.
He is a veteran of the Far East, opium smugglers and Manchu warlords, but little in Bantry’s experience has prepared him for what he will see, hear and feel when he meets the young Irish occultist, Michael Flynn. Their future unfolds in the Tarot cards – danger, pain and struggle – but the end of their story cannot be told. And what of the past?
The mystery of Michael Flynn draws Bantry into a strange, occult world, at once alien and irresistible. Instinctively, he knows Flynn is different, not merely beautiful, brilliant, exotic, but unlike any other man Bantry has ever known. Soon Vincent is caught up in a tangle of deceit, cruelty and danger, one jump ahead of the law, and seduced by the mystery, the grandeur of a midnight world into which he has glimpsed ... and which he greatly desires.
For the first time since FORTUNES OF WAR, Mel Keegan turns his attention to the massive saga, the panoramic canvas, which in NOCTURNE spans not years but centuries. This is by far the longest tale yet from Keegan. As richly detailed as THE DECEIVERS, as vastly plotted as the HELLGATE series, this 1890s historical has more than one twist ... and the most delicious sting in its tail.
Pullquote:
Mel Keegan’s name is a byword for thrilling gay adventure in the past, present and future — MILLIVRES on Aquamarine.
NOCTURNE
reviewed by J. GRENFELL
I love vampire stories. Read my first adult one when still a kid! But I never took vampires as SERIOUSLY as Keegan makes me take them. This book makes you stop and think hard. It could have been like this ... awesome. The characters of Flynn and Bantry really appeal to me. They've gotten 'cast' in my mindseye, so I'm seeing some specific actors in the parts (is anyone else but me seeing Antonio Banderas as Chabrier??? Woohoo...). The best part was the Christmas scene at the cabin in the French Marshlands. I could SEE it happening. MK's writing is very evocative. Also, I find myself having to ask, what happens next to these characters? They're immortal after all, so, it's 2004 right now. Are they still alive?? And if they're not, why not?? (If Duncan Macleod is alive, why not Bantry and Flynn?) Sequel! Sequel!
NOCTURNE
reviewed by SUZE
Margaret and I both finished Nocturne over the weekend, after savouring it for a whole week, and we both had the same initial reaction: more, please! I said to her, I would love to see Vince and Michael in the 21st century. Here's an excerpt of her response: "I too finished Nocturne this weekend and like yourself I want a sequel! Preferably set at least a hundred years in the future. I would really like to see how the vampyres and changelings are doing in the Internet Age...not to mention...did Vince find a publisher for Michael's stories? Was Phoebe able to sing again professionally? Was Vince accepted by the vampyre council? (I can see Vince becoming one of the vampyre warrior/assassins)...Argh! Inquiring minds want to know!! I also want more Chabrier (can NEVER have enough Chabrier) and I also want to finally meet Hypaetia. See? I'm not picky! ..." I have to say, I want to ask all of the same questions. Now, we definitely do not want to distract Mel from necessary sequels to Hellgate and NARC, but if he has a little bit of time when he's bored (:::cough, cough:::), maybe he might consider a sequel to this wonderful story. It begs for more, just like us. Vince and Michael live!
NOCTURNE
reviewed by BY E.R.
My only "knowledge" of Vampires was gleaned very early on from the old British "Hammer House of Horror Movies" where they were very much cast in the role of the "bad guy". I certainly never expected to find myself feeling sympathy for them.
And then I read "Nocturne" and my whole perception changed for here we had the very same creatures who were so far removed from the stereotype of the blood sucking beast to be caught and staked as quickly as possible as to be unrecognisable. Instead it was the humans: hell bent on capturing, experimenting and ultimately killing these gentle creatures in their warped perception of improving the human race who were the bad guys, which certainly gave me pause for thought.
I, too, would like to see a sequel to follow the adventures of Bantry and Flynn (as ever beautifully drawn characters who really "come to life"). So I'm herewith lodging a request. Sequel, please? [ Unknown to E.R. — and everyone else at the time of this writing, the sequal was in progress! It appeared in 2005, entitled TWILIGHT - Ed ]