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Vampire Chase
A horror-tinged 70s set rock 'n' roll roller-coaster mystery. Steve Madison is a troubleshooter of a record label who pulls musicians out of jams and keeps things quiet. It's a refreshing hook/set-up for a detective book. This book is pure 70s rock 'n' roll radio. The Animals, The Who, Jimmi and Janis get name-checked. Madison and his .44 Magnum are turned loose to stop a series of brutal "vampire" murders. Now despite the groovy mustachioed vampire on the cover, there's no supernatural element the book. Occult, ritual Vampire slayings and Satan-worship? Sure. It's a really just a crackling (and well done) mystery about who in a set of characters on a rock tour is killing and drinking the blood of groupies along the way. And despite the Dracula cover it's clearly marked "mystery" on the spine. "The Vampire Chase" puts the pedal down on the first word and keeps it there until the final page.
- GenresHorror
213 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
5 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 24, 2025
See the cover photo of this book? It’s got an old school looking vampire on it. Well toss that out the window because there is no vampire in this novel.
The book concerns a “fixer” type named Madison who has to follow a satanic KISS wannabe band called The Screaming Tree (not to be confused with the early 90’s rock band Screaming Trees). Apparently women are turning up dead in every city the perform in. They are killed in a “vampiric” type way with bites and slashed throats. Are hero Madison has to figure out which one of the band members is the killer. The cool and laid back guitarist/lead singer who happens to be married to Madison’s ex? The strung out bass guitarist/singer? The giant drummer/song writer with anger management issues who takes inspiration from the Satanic Bible? When a death hits close to home all bets are off and Madison is in vigilante mode.
This was written in the late 70’s and has a bit of a made for TV movie vibe. Minus the cursing and violence. The ending is a bit Scooby-Dooish in its wrap up. It was a quick read, but pretty forgettable. I’m surprised the publisher didn’t try a cover with a KISS knockoff looking band with satanic imagery. This was the height of Kiss and this would have made the book stand out more. Weird decision to go with the old school looking vampire.
The book concerns a “fixer” type named Madison who has to follow a satanic KISS wannabe band called The Screaming Tree (not to be confused with the early 90’s rock band Screaming Trees). Apparently women are turning up dead in every city the perform in. They are killed in a “vampiric” type way with bites and slashed throats. Are hero Madison has to figure out which one of the band members is the killer. The cool and laid back guitarist/lead singer who happens to be married to Madison’s ex? The strung out bass guitarist/singer? The giant drummer/song writer with anger management issues who takes inspiration from the Satanic Bible? When a death hits close to home all bets are off and Madison is in vigilante mode.
This was written in the late 70’s and has a bit of a made for TV movie vibe. Minus the cursing and violence. The ending is a bit Scooby-Dooish in its wrap up. It was a quick read, but pretty forgettable. I’m surprised the publisher didn’t try a cover with a KISS knockoff looking band with satanic imagery. This was the height of Kiss and this would have made the book stand out more. Weird decision to go with the old school looking vampire.
Displaying 1 of 1 review