Carrion Comfort
Dan Simmons
Dunne, Nov 2009, $19.99
ISBN: 9780312567071

In 1942 in Chelmno, Saul Laski knows he lies in a death camp having his two former roommates already dead and many to follow; he vows to live although the SS and the Oberst came every third Thursday in the month. Saul eventually realizes the SS stand perfectly still and soon learns why. The Oberst not just rape your mind, they control your body. He vows once again to live for now he has a mission to kill these mind controlling Nazi vampires; a mission that enables him to emotionally survive the horror of the mind rape domination.

Almost four decades later, Dr. Saul Laski remains a hunter of the Oberst who hunt humans as nonentities for their entertainment. His prime target all these years since the concentration camp von Borchert remains elusive. However, in Charleston he has a clue as he meets with Natalie Preston, whose father died when he met vampire Melanie Fuller, an offspring of billionaire Barent, who resides on a Florida barrier island where he hosts an annual game of deadly human chess. As Sheriff Bobby Joe Gentry investigates serial killings, Fuller goes Hollywood with Laski following her.

This is a reprint of an exciting 1980s vampire thriller with sidebars showcasing
the ability of Dan Simmons. However, the key to the thriller is the Mind Vampires especially the diversity in their personalities come across as genuine. With a strong exhilarating prime plot in which the audience anticipates the rematch between Saul and the Oberst who dominated him back in the Third Reich, fans will relish this fine saga while also wishing it was about a third to a half shorter as pruning the Hollywood cul de sacs would have helped.

Harriet Klausner