Darklost

The endangered fangsters of New York--who prefer to be called nosferatu rather than vampires--have found a new home in Los Angeles in this sequel to The Time of Feasting. Victor Renquist, their debonair Master, senses something amiss in the world of Dark Power, but he's so angst-ridden over the loss of his partner, Cynara, that he can barely consider the danger. The problem lies with the Council of Nine, which controls a religious cult. The council's leader, Marcus De Reske, has decided that his route to immortality lies in summoning Cthulhu to wreak havoc and chaos on Earth. Although De Reske's former ally and sidekick, Orton Ghast, points out, ""Cthulhu? The great squid-headed demon who's supposed to be confined to the undersea city of R'lyeh? That's pure H.P. Lovecraft, Marcus,"" this does not deter De Reske and his new super-bimbo Tara Swerling from their evil path. But Philipa, Marcus's ex-partner--a classy dame and a true psychic power--lets Renquist in on the council's plot, so the Elder Gods don't have such an easy time achieving their nefarious goal, after all. Meanwhile, Elaine Dance, a ""darklost"" who was only halfway turned into a nosferatu by Cynara, has come to L.A. seeking Renquist and the rest of the tribe so they can either put her out of her misery or make her fully one of them, while the other nosferatu deal with their own problems in a maze of overlapping subplots. Farren successfully conjures up a vision of nocturnal Los Angeles as sexy and dangerous, but his extraneously detailed writing drags down the story line and his stilted dialogue makes it difficult to believe in his fantastical characters. (Mar.)