The Blood of Kings [Paperback]

I'll admit that I am not a fan of the "gay vampire" genre of novels, and usually try to avoid them. But a friend alerted me to an interesting twist in John Michael Curlovich's "The Blood of Kings," and I gave it a try. I'm glad I did.

The plot may sound predictable, in that a lonely gay teen, estranged from his family and away from home for the first time at college, meets a mysterious professor who befriends him, and introduces him to the dark side of Egyptian history. But Professor Danilo teaches not only his student Jamie, but also the reader, about the interesting parts of Egyptian history (which the author later admits he took some liberties with) that suggest that gay men carry the "blood of kings" from that civilization. That sets this novel apart from the genre, and makes it rather interesting reading.

Jamie arrives on campus when it is already reeling from a series of mysterious deaths and disappearances, usually of student athletes like himself (He is a music major who is also a competitive swimmer). When Jamie discovers the mutilated body of his roommate's boyfriend, he is drawn further into the mystery, seeking the comfort of his growing personal relationship with Professor Danilo, which whom he becomes lovers. It's a relationship that leads Jamie into am new life, one he never expected but becomes convinced he was destined to lead.

I give the author extra points for an original and interesting concept, but only an average grade for the quality of the writing overall, which I found to be lacking in parts. Average it out to a 4 stars out of 5.

In all the time I have spent reviewing books, my least favorite sub category would have to be GAY VAMPIRE NOVELS. Generally, they all follow the same plot...some young blond guy sees some mysterious guy in all black, blah blah blah. Not interested.

So, when my books to review for the month contained not one but three GAY VAMPIRE NOVELS, I was less than pleased.

The only one of the three that didn't get thrown across my room in frustration half way through the read was The Blood of Kings, a new novel by John Michael Curlovich.

Something interesting happens while you're reading about twenty year old Jamie and his love affair with the Egyptian Professor Danilo. There is no lesson about the power of love. There are no interesting dressing tips on the sides of the pages. No recipies for succesful parties. Instead, we are tricked into learning about homosexual historical figures, and Mr Curlovich actually makes it interesting.

Professor Damilo tells the reading audience that homosexuals have the blood of kings in them, and if we chose to accept it, then we can do some amazing things. If we don't, then we are no worse than the people that would persecute us.

If we don't, then we are no worse than the people that like to pretend homosexuals never did anything positive towards our worlds history.

Professor Damilo reminds us that our ranks once included Richard the Lion Heart, Chopan, Louis XIII, and lovers Antinous and Hadrian.

What do our ranks include now? Talk show host and make-over experts? Closetet movie stars and musicians? We may not be burned at the stake or killed with burning hot pokers any more, but how far have we really come?

As for the actual plot, there is some depth and mystery to the relationship between Jamie and his professor, but two thirds of the way through the book, everything about the professor is explained. The readers only drive to read the book is to find out more about homosexual history and Egyptian mythology. For me, this was more than enough.

In this day and age when our own culture tricks us into thinking our only heritage is bath houses and color themed parties, it's nice to have some one take the time to show us

that we actually come from some absolutally amazing places. We were kings. We were pharos. We were composers. We were famous. And there are those out there that would have us never ever know this. There are historians that are doing what they can to remove the "homosexual element" from American history.

John Michael Curlovich says it best himself. "...It's a slow uphill fight. Homosexuality may not frighten the horses anymore, but it makes a lot of academics really skittish.

Thank you for educating this man a bit on where he really came from. A place of Dignity.

The essential problem with this novel is that it is so poorly written. The author makes observations about the characters that don't make sense & remove the reader from the story, e.g., "I yawned without knowing it." Also, the mysterious Danilo comes across like a caricature of Dracula. If this novel had been written as a tongue in cheek comedy, it might have worked. I am astounded at the great reviews this book has received (and a bit suspicious of them).