BOUND IN BLOOD

In what promises to be the first of a series, Lord shows that he has a good eye for detail, but this debut novel amounts to little more than an episodic account of the kills of his remorseless vampire protagonist, Jean-Luc "Jack" Courbet. Having been converted to vampirism, along with his actress mother, Noël, in 1870s Paris by Phillipe, Marquis de Charnac, Jack stalks the all-too-trusting and willing gay men of Greenwich Village. His crimes draw the attention of not only the local gay press (which chronicles "the Horror of West Street") but also his despised mother, who's attempting to blackmail her son into revealing the location of Phillipe's grimoires of power. Jack's lethal seductions of his victims, fleetingly met and unmourned, are too gruesome for a sustained erotic charge. The author forgets that it is the threat, not the actual act of killing, that produces the greatest emotional tension and interest. In addition, the sexual explicitness may be disconcerting for readers seeking more conventional or "straight" thrills. As one character tersely comments toward the end of the novel, "And as smart as you are, and with all that you've learned over the years, you couldn't find another way to stay alive without killing people?" The same could be asked of the motives of this talented author. Lord could establish a name for himself, provided he stops treating potential victims of his darker creations as numbers to be disposed of swiftly after use. On the other hand, he may remain content to produce the gay vampire equivalent to American Psycho. (May 1)