Raven

by S.A. Swiniarski

Awakening in a storm drain, covered with blood and with no memory of his life, private detective Kane Tyler desperately searches for his identity, only to discover that not only is he wanted for the murder of his wife, he has become a vampire, as well. Original.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Vampires

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

S.A. Swiniarski is a pseudonym of S. Andrew Swann (or perhaps an anti-pseudonym, as S. Andrew Swann is in turn the pseudonym of Steven Swiniarski).

Reviews

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amalgam of suspense fiction and dark (urban) fantasy, this book is a quirky but enjoyable romp that manages to retain an impressive helping of respectability given the subject matter. At first the protagonist comes across a bit like Jason Bourne, trying to piece together his identity bit by bit, but it quickly becomes apparent that this isn’t a story that Robert Ludlum would have written.

Despite also being a tale of the “Cleveland Undead”, Raven isn’t very similar to The Flesh, the Blood, and the Fire. I quite enjoyed both, but for different reasons. It is a Horror novel, but there’s nothing really gratuitous or overly gory here. The chills are derived from the immediacy of the first person narration and the disturbing journey of discovery. As if vampirism isn’t enough, some occultism is thrown into the mixture, just to be sure that librarians don’t inadvertently shelf this incorrectly.

Refreshingly free of naïve romanticism and compulsory erotica, Raven was, for me, a refreshing take on the vampire mythos. I can see, from the mixed reviews here that it isn’t to everyone’s taste, though.
And isn’t that wonderful?

Recommended
Read as part of must-read agreement with wife

[Jim Reindollar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first happened upon this book in 1997 as a teenager, lacking funds to buy it, I remembered it, but could never find it. At last, at a used bookstore I found it staring up at me and I picked it up. Before I began to read it, I feared this would be a lame direct to paperback vampire novel with nothing to offer, perhaps even be amateurish. After 14 years, could it live up to what I imagined it would be as a teenager?
It did, and then some. Clever, intelligent writing with interesting, mysterious characters. A page turner with lots going on in this light on the horror but strong on the imagination book that owes a great deal to Poe. If you can find a copy, pick it up, don't wait 14 years.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice dark fantasy novel with a bit of urban fantasy and a bit of noirish mystery and a bit of horror in the Poe tradition. It's set in the same world (Cleveland rocks!) as another novel, The Flesh, the Blood and the Fire, but they're not closely connected and quite different in tone. It tells the story of a private investigator who awakens with no memory. He learns that he's Kane Tyler, an ex-cop who's wanted for the savage murder of his wife, oh, and he's a vampire now. It's something of a slowly paced procedural, but I found it quite captivating. It's quite different from the science fiction novels he wrote as S. Andrew Swann, the pseudonym that was much better known than this real name. (He wrote some as Stephen Krane, too, also sf.) It's a clever and enjoyable story.

[Dragoonfliy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at a second hand store because it looked like an nice fluffy vampire read for me when I traveled. I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought I would! It's an interesting blend of horror, action, and mystery from the view of a freshly-turned ex-cop.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who's craving gritty yet unique vampires. It's got a few nice throw-backs to the more shape shifting vampire abilities found in Dracula to the more modern day concept of vampire societies. All in all a fresh vampire read and I'd recommend it to any night-walker fans out there!

[Katherine Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like another reviewer, I came across this book as a teenager in 1997. I, however, was lucky enough to get it from the library and read it, twice (I liked it so much). As the summary will tell you, the book is about a man who has lost memories trying to put together what happened to him, and it leads into the supernatural from there. Still, it's neither vampire-themed detective fiction, nor a crime-themed vampire story; it manages to strike right in the middle, using one genre's components to forward the narrative for the other.

I was worried when I went back to the book as an adult that it wouldn't hold up, especially given the genre and my age when I first read it. So I was pleasantly surprised when, ten years later, I found it really did live up to my memory. I also lent it to my husband, somewhat to sanity I wasn't reading by nostalgia, but he really enjoyed it as well.

It's odd what things have an impact on our lives, but because I read this book just after moving to a new school, and probably because the cover is very eye-catching, I ended up with the nickname "Raven". That name stuck with me to this day, so I've come back to it about once a decade (what namesake wouldn't?) and I haven't been disappointed yet.

[Allison Simms · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of memory loss plots, so this book was already at a disadvantage from my tastes. Just having the various factions say their piece to our main character, Kane, but him not knowing who to trust would have worked better for me.

--Spoilers--

The "twist" that Leia had orchestrated the whole thing didn't feel impactful to me because we barely got to know her. We also barely got to know Childe who was built up as the main villain. We also barely got to know Sebastian despite him being one of the only things keeping the plot moving. So, the book had some interesting components, but I didn't enjoy the way that they were put together.

I wasn't really feeling the vampires in this. They shapeshift into werewolf, demon, or nosferatu forms which seems kind of unnecessary. And they have "the covenant" where they choose special names and had a rigid hierarchy. It all felt pretentious but not in an interesting way.

One thing I did like was Gail saving Kane in the end. That was a good resolution to his character arc of struggling with his worry for her. I liked their relationship. Unfortunately, it was the only one in the story that made me feel anything at all.

[Robert York · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome vampire story. The main character wakes up in a sewer and must piece together the events that led up to his predicament. That first chapter caught me and i just couldn't put this book down. I've read it a few times and it never gets old.

[Alexander Draganov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish.
Интересна идея, но скучна, разтеглена и лигава.

[Cassandra Glissadevil · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 stars.
Vampire/mystery mashup. Reminded me of movies like Memento and DOA. Protagonist backtracks and flashbacks, like a detective to the moment that screwed his life. Fast, fun read.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I'm going to rate this seperately as book 1 and 2 are very different.

I'd give Raven 3 starts. On the plus side we had an amnesiac ex cop who had to figure everything out and come to terms with having being turned into a vampire, it had some good world building, I loved the sense of winter that pervaded all the scenes. On the down side, his wife and most of the side characters are uninteresting and flat, everyone dies, we don't know how or why he was turned, suprise who-dun-it reveal ending and lots of vagueness that can be built up on. I had no problem with the fake medical reasoning, but the end was kinda meh.

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Raven is about a ex-cop who is now a private investigator. He wakes up and has no clue who or where he is, and to top it off, he's a vampire.

Sounds intriguing, does it not?

Yeah, well that's what I thought. The book was ok, but I found it to be really slow and a bit all over the place. I pushed myself to finish it.

Would I recommend it? No, unless your just looking for something to take up your time in between reading something better. Who knows, some of you may enjoy it more than I did.

[Sarah Oldham · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting take on vampirism. I got tired towards the end and was just 'meh'.