I always appreciate new takes on old genres. Merrie Destefano’s Feast was a slightly new interpretation of the vampire story. I think. It took me a little over halfway through the book to figure out that the supernatural beings that harvest and subsist mainly on dreams were vampires. In fact, if a couple of the creatures hadn’t acted as ‘stereotypical’ vampires and drank the blood of one of their victims, I would have argued that these were a new breed of paranormal beasties.

Reeling from a public divorce, graphic novel artist and writer Maddie ('Mad Mac' to her fans) MacFaddin takes her son Tucker and returns to a place that holds happy memories from her childhood in Ticonderoga Falls. She’s hoping the change of scenery will help heal her small family as well as her writer’s block. She soon finds herself in the middle of a fight for her life, as well as the lives of the other inhabitants of the small picturesque town. 

Ash, who I believe is sort of the Tony Soprano of this small picturesque town, remembers Maddie well from her childhood.  He loves her and means to claim her as his own before his guests, in town for an annual hunt-and-harvest, devour her (soul? dreams? life?).

Maddie’s character was well fleshed out but the relationship between her and the main (creature? vampire?) male character Ash lacked. Severely.  By the end of the book the reader is supposed to believe that there is a strong bond between the two but even with suspension of disbelief, I just wasn’t buying it. My favorite characters were actually minor ones: Maddie’s son Tucker and the poor abused servant in Ash’s house.

I was more than a little confused by the creatures themselves. They are called just about everything except vampires: darklings, chupacabras, and it wasn’t until I was almost finished with the book that I realized that that’s what they were. Feast started out with creatures who harvested the dreams and nightmares of people, which I thought was an inventive, original idea. Somewhere in the middle a couple of the darklings eat someone like a vampire would. 

Even more confusing is the constant reference to the curse on... Ash?  The Town?  I'm not sure.  And after finishing the book, I'm still not sure.  It never was explained. 

Bottom Line?  Interesting ideas, moments of... not quite brilliance, but true enjoyment... but in the end it just didn't do much for me.  I'll forget it by tomorrow.
 

Recommended: No