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In this introduction to the series, young Jonathan Barrett arrives in London in 1773 to pursue his college education. His fate among the undead is sealed by the unnaturally beautiful Nora Jones, who seduces him and consumes his blood. Unbeknownst to Jonathan, he is no longer the same man, something he soon discovers upon his return to America to join the armed forces and defend his country. Rather than an appetite for traditional fare, he has developed a strange craving for human blood.
294 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
11 people are currently reading
553 people want to read
About the author
P.N. Elrod
95 books592 followersPatricia Nead Elrod is an American fantasy writer specializing in novels about vampires. Her work falls into areas of fantasy and (in some cases) mystery or historical fiction, but normally not horror, since her vampires are the heroes. -Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
May 10, 2009
This book is considered one of the more popular in vampire lit section. However, we need to clarify one thing:
It's not about vampires. It's about Jonathan Barrett.
This book is a very slow read. There is almost no action; instead, the author leads us through the every-day life of Jonathan, following him through his life at home, studies in England and then the activities back on Long Island. The vampire part is seriously downplayed, but even though I bought the book looking mostly for vampirism, I wasn't disappointed. The descriptions, albeit long, were interesting enough for someone who hasn't had much fondness for historical fiction before. The visions of the world crafted by Elrod differed from what I expected/imagined and it was a real pleasure to learn how things worked.
As for Mr Barrett himself... I found it amusing that he was not a likable fellow, at least not for me. It was nice to observe him, but I didn't care much for his lot. That's the quirk of sitting in one's brain via first person perspective.
It took me more than two months to finish this novel solely due to lengthy descriptions and slow flow. I can recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction who doesn't mind a bit of supernatural.
It's not about vampires. It's about Jonathan Barrett.
This book is a very slow read. There is almost no action; instead, the author leads us through the every-day life of Jonathan, following him through his life at home, studies in England and then the activities back on Long Island. The vampire part is seriously downplayed, but even though I bought the book looking mostly for vampirism, I wasn't disappointed. The descriptions, albeit long, were interesting enough for someone who hasn't had much fondness for historical fiction before. The visions of the world crafted by Elrod differed from what I expected/imagined and it was a real pleasure to learn how things worked.
As for Mr Barrett himself... I found it amusing that he was not a likable fellow, at least not for me. It was nice to observe him, but I didn't care much for his lot. That's the quirk of sitting in one's brain via first person perspective.
It took me more than two months to finish this novel solely due to lengthy descriptions and slow flow. I can recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction who doesn't mind a bit of supernatural.
August 8, 2023
I remember the first time I read this series, I was quite taken with it and her version of vampires. Set back in the 1700's, Jonathan Barrett was a young man who left his home in Pre-Independent-America to go to school in England to learn how to be a lawyer to take after his father.
A lot of the book is family drama circling around his mother who has trauma induced mental illnesses that make her just the most... brutally awful human. He gets himself to London for a few years to go to school to be a lawyer and has a lovely relationship with a woman everyone seems to fall for named Nora, who becomes quite taken with him. One thing leads to another and there's been a sharing of blood. His mother winds up calling him home, he departs, the war for independence is escalating and during an altercation, Jonathon departs the mortal coil. At that point... I had to put the book down for several months because our protagonist opted to do something just... ... brainless.
A lot of the book is family drama circling around his mother who has trauma induced mental illnesses that make her just the most... brutally awful human. He gets himself to London for a few years to go to school to be a lawyer and has a lovely relationship with a woman everyone seems to fall for named Nora, who becomes quite taken with him. One thing leads to another and there's been a sharing of blood. His mother winds up calling him home, he departs, the war for independence is escalating and during an altercation, Jonathon departs the mortal coil. At that point... I had to put the book down for several months because our protagonist opted to do something just... ... brainless.
April 8, 2008
For the first time since Interview With a Vampire I've read a book that has a great view on vampire life. I truly enjoyed the character of Jonathan Barrett. The fact that he starts the book so innocently is a great touch. His transition into this new life although sudden, he is prepared for. Nora is a absolutely wonderful addition to the book. She is so smooth and sure of herself. She is everything I expect a vampire woman to be. I enjoy Elrod's take on the vampire being able to take from people without killing them. It brings a fantastic reality to the vampire lifestyle. The only thing I disliked about the book was that it was a little slow to start. I enjoyed following Jonathan through his schooling but I would have liked to get the vampire portion faster. One of my favorite points was the fact that the book never once mentions the word "vampire."
October 29, 2011
I only got halfway through this book. Most of the reasons have to do with the characters being too similar to my own family (I have huge hang-ups with characters being too similar to people I know- I also hate books with characters with the same name as people I am close to). The other reasons have to do with how slow this book moved. There is ZERO action. This book is about this guy's day-to-day life and what happens to him. I like historical fiction. I like vampires. This guy is just so. damn. boring.
July 16, 2019
I have been reading The Vampire Files by P. N. Elrod, set during the 1930's, among the gangsters of Chicago. Now this new (to me) series is set during the Revolutionary WI ar on Long Island. Our gentleman vampire is a Tory. This book explains, in 1st person, how Jonathan became a vampire which is, at least methodically, the same way Jack Fleming of The Vampire Files did. That said, I enjoyed the story telling and the characters as much as I do the first series.
June 2, 2020
One of my biggest pet peeves about books I read is the amount of time it takes to get into the real story. This is one of those books. At least at the 2/3 point of the book we were still setting up the action for the conclusion of the book. I am glad I hung around as it turned out to be a good story just a bit long winded in the introduction as I think of it. Lots of books you wonder where it is going when you start it and it is not about anything that you would think it should be about. There were little things about this one that make it a bit different than the usual vampire story, and in that it is interesting. I would very much be interested in the next chapter of the tale.
Things that make it good? I like historical novels, and those with alot of historical details are more interesting to me than those without, but I don't necessarily need to know about basket weaving or some other mundane task to know about times as they were in the past.
Things that seem to differ from the usual vampire fare? Jonathan does not really tell how many time he shared blood with Nora, so the fact that on his death he turns into a vampire is a bit of a surprise. He did not have to dig himself out of his grave as he could render himself immaterial and then he rose out of his grave. A clever trick. He did not need human blood to survive, a horse's blood worked just fine. He did not seem to be completely impervious to injuries as he suffers a broken arm and moans and groans about it for a day at least before he finds that when he renders himself immaterial he relieves all of his health issues. He has the ability to influence the thoughts of others and does this to several people during the conclusion to the book. Apparently not immune to sunlight he must hide himself away from the sun. Day sleeping seems to cause him some issues towards the end of the book and it is unclear whether that is for a particular reason or because he needed to right some wrongs with someone who may have caused his death. There was no resting after that bit of resolution so I have no idea if that solved his sleep issue.
Another thing that can become a distraction for me is those sorts of plot threads that do not resolve themselves in the book. They can nag away at me until I almost cannot finish the book for thinking about those little niggling issues. The ones I noted did not create such a headache I am glad to say.
Things that make it good? I like historical novels, and those with alot of historical details are more interesting to me than those without, but I don't necessarily need to know about basket weaving or some other mundane task to know about times as they were in the past.
Things that seem to differ from the usual vampire fare? Jonathan does not really tell how many time he shared blood with Nora, so the fact that on his death he turns into a vampire is a bit of a surprise. He did not have to dig himself out of his grave as he could render himself immaterial and then he rose out of his grave. A clever trick. He did not need human blood to survive, a horse's blood worked just fine. He did not seem to be completely impervious to injuries as he suffers a broken arm and moans and groans about it for a day at least before he finds that when he renders himself immaterial he relieves all of his health issues. He has the ability to influence the thoughts of others and does this to several people during the conclusion to the book. Apparently not immune to sunlight he must hide himself away from the sun. Day sleeping seems to cause him some issues towards the end of the book and it is unclear whether that is for a particular reason or because he needed to right some wrongs with someone who may have caused his death. There was no resting after that bit of resolution so I have no idea if that solved his sleep issue.
Another thing that can become a distraction for me is those sorts of plot threads that do not resolve themselves in the book. They can nag away at me until I almost cannot finish the book for thinking about those little niggling issues. The ones I noted did not create such a headache I am glad to say.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2025
Wow. I forgot how much I enjoyed this when I was younger.
It does touch on the topic of vampires, but the story flows over Jonathan Barret and his life.
Miss Nora Jones is the only vampire in the beginning of the story until she turns Jonathan.
Barret has a very intrigued life and views on how things should be and how things are meant to be.
Reading historical fiction is a new light to me because of how so many things are different from my present time versus the book's timeline. I mean; to describe things so lengthy and have circles around a topic of interest is different than how we are just straight to the script in our world.
This book does breach the smut action; however, it is very tame and not very telling.
It does touch on the topic of vampires, but the story flows over Jonathan Barret and his life.
Miss Nora Jones is the only vampire in the beginning of the story until she turns Jonathan.
Barret has a very intrigued life and views on how things should be and how things are meant to be.
Reading historical fiction is a new light to me because of how so many things are different from my present time versus the book's timeline. I mean; to describe things so lengthy and have circles around a topic of interest is different than how we are just straight to the script in our world.
This book does breach the smut action; however, it is very tame and not very telling.
December 3, 2018
Great meshing of Vampires and Revolutionary war
March 5, 2019
What a SLOW read. Is this first book a set up for the series? I don't know and I don't think I'm going to read the next one. This book was just so laborious to read and the characters were flat.
November 16, 2021
Red Death, A Review
A wonderful story. I hope there are more. The author is a tremendous writer and I will look for more of their work.
A wonderful story. I hope there are more. The author is a tremendous writer and I will look for more of their work.
June 22, 2025
I enjoyed this book. I am originally introduced to Jonathan Barrett in the Vampire Files series. This book gives us his origin story as a vampire.
October 11, 2015
Nice take on the vampire genre. The hero is from Long Island Loyalist stock, very well-to-do, and something of an innocent abroad when he is sent to Cambridge University to study law just before the Revolutionary War begins. He meets a beguiling young lady and becomes one of her circle of male friends and eventually her lover. She's a vampire already, events unfold that lead to her turning him but being unable to educate or train him in their ways. He returns to Long Island just as the war is heating up; his neighbors are mainly Loyalist but beginning to resent the high-handed treatment by the King's armies and his Hessian mercenaries. Jonathan Barret gets caught up in local events, he and his immediate family work through what it means to be a vampire. Being an orphaned vampire is an novel take on the genre in my experience and I like the time-frame as well. There are several more novels in this series; I would expect any vampire fan to read the lot. I'm not a big fan of the sub-genre, but could see following this series to see what our gentleman gets up to.
October 28, 2008
So, this is a historical fantasy vampire novel. And... well, it was pretty generic. Young colonial brat gets shipped off to England for Education. Winds up being seduced by a vampire and turned, which he doesn't really know about until he returns home, is accidentally shot by a Washington-supporting neighbor who mistakes his good coat for High Ranking British Uniform, and wakes up in a coffin with a taste for blood. There wasn't much plot -- it felt like set-up for something else. And the supernatural was decidedly downplayed -- the vampires had all the standard powers, but neither the main character nor the other vampire seemed like anything other with humans with superpowers and a craving for blood. I was decidedly underwhelmed -- I hate vampires as humans with superpowers and a craving for blood.
This one's going back to the swap. If I wanted to read Revolutionary War fiction, I wouldn't bother with ones with vampires in it, unless the vampires add something to it.
This one's going back to the swap. If I wanted to read Revolutionary War fiction, I wouldn't bother with ones with vampires in it, unless the vampires add something to it.
July 27, 2015
This had to have been one of the hardest books to get through. I had been reading another series prior to starting this book and managed to read one a day, usually 400-500 pages. This one not even 300 pages took me 4 days to get through. Sadly I have the read of this series and am not looking forward to the next book. Maybe it will be better? Red Death was just sooooo boring! There was nothing really going, the last half of the book I was basically skipping to the parts where the people talked. By the end I still had a good understanding, sorta, of what happened. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
July 12, 2013
With the tacky cover and poor title choice, you might want to pass this by. I'm glad I didn't. The author, whom I knew from the Vampire Files, is a very good author. So I read it anyway.
Set near the time of the American Revolution. Jonathan Barrett and his family live in Long Island, and when studying abroad he has an unusual experience. Back home, amid revolutionary unrest, things take a decided turn for the worse.
Yea! It's a series. I'll have to get the next one.
Set near the time of the American Revolution. Jonathan Barrett and his family live in Long Island, and when studying abroad he has an unusual experience. Back home, amid revolutionary unrest, things take a decided turn for the worse.
Yea! It's a series. I'll have to get the next one.
June 19, 2010
A historical novel with a somewhat boring vampire as the protagonist.
Jonathan Barrett is a young American colonial who gets seduced by a vampire and turned while he is at college in England. After he returns home, he is shot by a revolutionary neighbor (maybe an accident, maybe not), and wakes up in a coffin.
Quite a slow read for me.
Jonathan Barrett is a young American colonial who gets seduced by a vampire and turned while he is at college in England. After he returns home, he is shot by a revolutionary neighbor (maybe an accident, maybe not), and wakes up in a coffin.
Quite a slow read for me.
August 17, 2010
If you are interested in Vampires and If you appreciate history - this is a wonderful series. If your teen is ready to graduate from YA books, this is a lovely place to graduate too (assuming she likes civil and revolutionary war motifs :>).
Jonathan is wonderful - the writing is wonderful - the take on the Vampire Universe works for me :>.
Jonathan is wonderful - the writing is wonderful - the take on the Vampire Universe works for me :>.
July 3, 2012
I read this book for the 1st time more than 10 years ago and I loved it then. I still think I would love it. I read all the books in this series in one fat novel. It was fantastic. I hope you can get through the first couple of pages though. It is a bit on the slow side. This book isn't really about what goes bump in the night, just what happens to a man that happened along one of those bump.
July 2, 2013
An interesting take on historical vampires, not dissimilar to Anne Rice's series. Ms. Elrod is excellent at characterization and various scene executions, whether late-night vampire-lover rendezvous in 18th century Cambridge or late-night skirmishes between rebels and redcoats on revolutionary Long Island. Historically insightful and highly entertaining fantastical fiction.
January 30, 2022
Meh this wasnt awful just reminded me of other books that have done the hero vampire better, I dont feel it was a unique enough take on vampires.Authors like Chelsea Q Yarbro have gone this better. I feel it did not give enough details on the setting and the time period and felt too modern,Other people may like this but wasnt for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2015
Another book that I need to review shortly after I read it. It must have been ok, but not so amazingly fantastic that I ran out & got the other books in the series from the library. I've enjoyed other books by Elrod, so I'll likely read some more of these.
September 9, 2012
I found these better than the base series, but still not great. A very mediocre (at best) take on vampires. I'd tentatively recommend these to be read, once. Obviously it depends on what genres you like to read.
January 7, 2008
A fun read - pretty forgettable. Interesting it is more from a Tory perspective.
February 1, 2008
Historical fiction and vampires intertwine to form a highly intriguing tale.
April 7, 2009
One of my favorite vampire books. I like this series better than Elrod's Vampire Files series, though those books are good too.
January 21, 2010
While I don't often like vampire fiction, this series is interesting because of the historical aspect. I'd definitely recommend it.
July 11, 2010
Jonathan Barrett, Gentleman Vampire, he's a little bit like Bill on True Blood but much more cultured and not nearly the wimp Bill is turning out to be.
Want to read
July 21, 2010Oh men... it's really the cover of this book or it's a sick joke? Pleeeeeeease I hope it's a joke! 
January 17, 2013
totally forgot I read these. They actually were quite good if i remember right...
August 16, 2016
Although bordering on simplistic the story and characters are engaging and well-written, and there's a fairly interesting take on an old theme.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews