Lily

Lily
Sarah Dickson
Triskelion Publishing
ISBN: 1-932866-08-6
Fiction, Erotic, Horror, Paranormal
Reviewed by Arthur Chappell

A novel about sexy female vampires running a brothel promises the reader lashings of horror, sex and violence from the outset. Sadly, while there is some terrific erotica involved, this story has surprisingly little violence, and virtually no horror. When a vampire called Constance overfeeds and kills a customer, instead of using a generally accepted exchange of blood and other bodily fluids to enhance his sexuality, she escapes and leaves brothel keeper Lily to face the police. Inspector Holburn, a ruthless detective, who is even prepared to kill men himself in order to set up the vampires, handles the case. Lily’s tenuous position is made even more difficult for her when the nephew of the deceased seeks emotional and physical solace by visiting her brothel. Lily falls in love with the man, and the novel plays on how he will feel when he eventually realizes her true nature.
Lily is surprisingly merciful as a vampire. She doesn’t wish to kill Constance, but plans to help her control her blood-lust. Lily is aided in this by Lyon, a French vampire lord.
Everyone in the book is terribly nice, except Holburn, and the vampires have few problems going out in daylight, or flying vast distances. The Victorian London and Paris settings are well used, but the novel really needs more villainy and power struggle. Instead, we have a world in which every man seems to visit a brothel. Sensual at times, but ultimately lacking in any sense of true danger or conflict for its characters.