- Paperback: 406 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Canada / Mass Market (Mar 1 1982)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 038077982X
- ISBN-13: 978-0380779826
- Product Dimensions: 16.8 x 9.9 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 136 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #217,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Portrait of a Victorian Vampire-Hunter,
By
This review is from: Delicate Dependency (Paperback)
I've had this book since its original paperback publication in early 1982... just "got around to it" recently.
It is very well written, but it does get a tad tedious, but then again, Anne Rice and Stephen King never met a word processor that they didn't like, either! It has elements of (note that I say "elements", not meaning "just like") Marius and LeStat, the ANDROMEDA STRAIN, TALE OF THE BODY THIEF, and myriad Sherlock Holmes plots. But all of this is pushed through a Victorian funnel, akin to THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN. The atmospheric descriptions are quite good; I was transported to the Victorian era, and my oh my, it was so nice to get away from mobile phones. The pace, once the plot moves beyond Dr. Gladstone's virology laboratory, is fast-paced, though of course the plot has to move according to how fast horses and trains can move. My biggest problem with it is on its last page. I just don't get how the plot point of how two sisters interact (or better said, how one sister interacts or relates to, the other) seems to drop off a couple of paragraphs from the end of the book. I can't decide if the author was setting this up for a sequel or just didn't know how to end the story. Michael in Halifax, Canada 25 January 2010 You can check out my Shelfari pages at [...] - I've a large library so it will take a lot of time to build the titles.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews) 14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, the "truth" about the vampire!,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Delicate Dependency (Paperback)
Michael Talbot has woven a tale of the vampire unlike any you have read. He places them historically in the development of the human race, identifying them as artists, popes,collectors and inventors. He depicts them as the curators of all things important to human kind. It is the way they obtain those things worth protecting that is the meat of his book, The Delicate Dependency. Set in London at the turn of the century, a kidnapping of a child occurs which sends her father and a renowned vampire hunter on a chase all over Europe. The father is a physician who has discovered a lethal virus.
While on the search the fabric of vampire society and history is revealed to the reader. Complex, sumptuous, sensual and immortal, the vampire move about the world gleaning all that is best, surviving on the blood of willing victims who serve them.
Revelations at the close of the book produce a "back to the future" which is all too keen and chilling.
The book departs from the usual blood and gore of Ann Rice. Talbots style and understanding of the world surpass all other vampire books I have read. Devastating content for a feature film.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Hidden Masterpiece,
By Tony Millett - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Delicate Dependency (Paperback)
I like others have read and re-read this book many a time. It's truly a literary piece of genious. Not just a novel about biting necks and drinking blood, but a brilliant story written with great images (no, not pictures...) and the most descriptive words/phrases of any of the vampire novels. Way more accessible, and far better written than the more popular Rice novels. If you can get your hands on this,do not let it out to anyone. This book has a tendency to disappear like a sock in a clothes dryer. Yes, I was foolish enough to let a few of my copies out only to have them never returned. My one copy now is stapled to my forehead...
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So much more than just your average "vampire novel"!!,
By Claude J. Morrison - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Delicate Dependency (Paperback)
It is a pity that this book is so inexplicably obscure and out of print. Michael Talbot is an author who can write with authority and imagination. It certainly makes me want to read other material he has written which, at a glance, seems to be of unusual variety. My guess is that he is a true renaissance man with an extensive working knowledge of a great many subjects. Contained in this tale is a "whodunit" of truly page-turning proportions and a morality play that sets this head and shoulders above any other story in its realm that I've ever read. I just wish I could get my hands on one copy (or a half dozen!) It seems to be one of those books that has a way of disappearing - (I've owned three copies) - If you're reading, Michael Talbot, let me know where I can find this - and thanks for a great read!
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