Valancourt Books Nightblood (Paperbacks from Hell)

There are no spoilers in this review, though some nostalgia and a healthy bit of praise. Bear with me as I bare with you, waxing nostalgic. (And for those with shorter attention spans, buy this book. It's worth it.) I first picked up a copy of this nearly three decades ago. My 5th grade class had our annual booksale, and I got a copy for $1 (they priced books low to encourage us to read; it's no reflection on the book itself.) I read it four times over the next few years. I lost my copy in 9th grade, forgot it on a desk and when I went back after class was over, it was gone. In the years after, I could remember elements of the author's name, and the basic plot, and as the internet and Google became a thing, I would Google what I could. This book eluded me for a decade and a half in the Internet Era. I lucked out and found a forum post about a year ago, someone else was looking for the same book. We added information that we could each remember and some blessed saint-to-be had a copy, gave us the full name of the author and the book. I then spent six months on eBay, Amazon, other sites, trying to find a copy. I lucked out and found a copy of this and another book by the same author at a reasonable price and bought it right away. All of that said is to simply relate to you the extreme efforts I have gone through for over twenty years to find this book. This book is very well written, a great horror piece with a splash of action. T. Chris Martindale is probably the most underrated writer in this genre, hands down, and if the author is still alive, I hope they return to writing. I can never thank this author enough. Nightblood fueled my creative mind as a kid and teen, and gave me the courage and excitement to write my very first short story. Such a good read. The price here on Amazon is currently $50 for a copy; it's inflated but I think that's because, to best of my knowledge, there is no ebook version of this nor where there many printings. The book is rare in its own rights. I would still pay $50 for a copy for this and if I didn't keep the copy I have in a security box at my bank, I'd get another copy, read it once a year and store it there. Such a good book and, considering it came out in '89, it was ahead of it's time. This wasn't some scrub writer epub'ing everything under the sun like we have now. In 2019 we have tens of thousands of books coming out every year thanks solely to epub stuff. Martindale, though, Martindale cut their teeth in a pre-internet era and wrote a masterpiece of the action/macabre genre.

The condition of the book is near perfect. I first read this daring action/horror book when I was twelve. Loved it then.... LOVE it now. Read it as soon as I opened the package. Chris Martindal was an extremely gifted writer.

Really enjoyed the story. A straightforward vampire story to enjoy.

After reading the life-changing Paperbacks from Hell, and discovering that many of the books mentioned were suddenly being reprinted by Valancourt Books, I took the plunge and picked up Chris Martindale's book back in March of 2020. I was not disappointed. From the beginning, Nightblood reads like a violent, 80's version of Stephen King's Salem's Lot, and without the underlying dread and bleak conclusion. Full of vampires, a strong loner protagonist who's heard heart is softened by a strong single mom and her intelligent, resourceful kids, the book is a nostalgaic, well-written journey back to the violent, entertaining world of 80's action/vampire movies in book form. It's great fun from beginning to end. Don't expect lofty literature. Chris Martindale knows his material and tropes well. This is pure fun and well-written to boot. Read and enjoy.

I think this entry in the paperbacks from hell would appeal to fans of Anita Blake, Vampire Slayer, if I'm remembering that name correctly, hope I am, or the TV series Supernatural. It is way more of an action novel type read than other books in the series, which I have said in other reviews can be a little varigated, so if you are reading them in sequence you will notice big differences in style, narrative, pace because of the types of stories as much as the different authors. There were some sequences in this that I really liked, a lot of the action set pieces are really good, the gun fights or parts that read a little like a western or thriller. The problem for me was a lot of the parts inbetween, long on dialogue which felt like it was dull and dragging on, was just not as good, a lot of it felt like filler and some of it I did not think the author was enjoying writing even. I've made the comparisons to more recent "slayer fiction" and TV shows but the trope that it is two brothers, one of whom is a ghost, reminded me of older TV series featuring a private detective and his deceased partner, although that show had nothing like the gunslinging that is in this book. Did not enjoy this book as much as others in the Paperbacks From Hell series, I'm not a fan of Supernatural though or fiction of that sort, so that may explain it.