Half the Blood of Brooklyn

Les aventures du vampire Joe Pitt se poursuivent dans ce troisième roman qui m'a un peu déçu après deux premiers volumes enthousiasmants. L'action sort enfin de Manhattan pour se déplacer jusqu'à Brooklyn, mais le récit là-bas m'a plutôt ennuyé. Seul le retour de Joe à Manhattan et les bouleversements qui vont avec m'ont réconcilié avec ce roman.

J'ai l'impression qu'il s'agit d'un roman de transition avant les deux derniers de la série, en espérant que la suite retrouve le niveau d'intérêt des débuts.

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Urban Fantasy - Gritty Noire - Rogue Vampire

Joe Pitt is a vampire, or, rather, a vampyre. The “y” is because vampirism - the desire/need for blood, the strength and durability, the eternal youth - is caused by a virus, called the “vyrus.” In Manhattan, the infected live in the shadows and are organized into “clans” that police their territories, making sure that the human herd is not over-exploited and that the secret of the vyrus does not get out where it can panic normal humans.

This book does not give Joe Pitts' origin story. That story was provided in the previous books - this the third book in the “Joe Pitts, the two prior being “Already Dead” and “No Dominion.” I strongly recommend that you start with the beginning. If you start here you will probably spend a lot of time wondering what is going on. Author Charlie Huston has layered his world with detail, and some of the details are going to make more sense if you know what's going. For example, there is a subplot about Amanda and Sela that we can figure out the background of in this book, but knowing the background is probably more satisfying. I read this book around seven years ago. I was surprised at how much I'd forgotten. I remembered the key points, but there were large parts I didn't remember at all. So, I had some of the experience of a new reader. I, obviously, need to go back and fill in the first two books.

This book starts with Joe ensconced as Security Chief for the Society. The Society is an extremely left-wing clan occupying southern Manhattan, which has a hippy leader, Terry Bird, and a large faction of LGBTQ vampyres led by Lydia. Joe has a longstanding relationship with Terry and we are given to understand that in a prior book Joe took over the position of the previous Security Chief. Joe also has a relationship with the Enclave - a clan of warrior-monk vampyres - and the Dusters - a motorcycle gang. The Society is opposed to the Coalition, which seems to be the mafia of the vampyre world, as well as being the heavy hitters of this world.

The story opens with a blood dealer murdered and cut into pieces. At the same time, clans from Brooklyn are desperately trying to flee Brooklyn into Manhattan. Joe gets tasked by Terry to take Lydia and negotiate with a Brooklyn clan known as the Freaks to amalgamate with the Society. Joe and Lydia enter darkest Brooklyn by night and deal with the Freaks - literal circus freaks - and are kidnapped by vampire Orthodox Jews, the Chosen. From there the story is a cycle of violence involving revenge and settling scores. Through it all, Joe mostly wants to take care of his girlfriend Evie, who is dying of AIDS.

The story is exciting and fast-moving. I didn't find Joe to be a particularly engaging character. He is mostly monosyllabic and conceals most of his thinking in classic pulp noir style. Huston has a James Joyce style of indicating dialogue with dash marks and no tags, so we get a telegraphic style without a lot of information being provided. All in all, I thought it worked.

I particularly liked the character of the Rebbe. I mostly liked the world that Huston created. As I said, it is complicated and layered. Huston's plot keeps a lot of balls in the air and I enjoyed watching his performance. The story is gritty, grim and bloody, far more like Hammett than the nice and safe urban fantasy that floods the market. So be advised if you are looking for a nicer version of urban fantasy, you may find this to be disturbing.