Afterimage: Film, Trauma, and the Holocaust (Emerging Media: History, Theory, Narrative)

Book Description

The appearance of Alain Resnais' 1955 French documentary Night and Fog heralded the beginning of a new form of cinema, one that used the narrative techniques of modernism to provoke a new historical consciousness. Afterimage presents a theory of posttraumatic film based on the encounter between cinema and the Holocaust. Locating its origin in the vivid shock of wartime footage, Afterimage focuses on a group of crucial documentary and fiction films that were pivotal to the spread of this cinematic form across different nations and genres.

Joshua Hirsch explores the changes in documentary brought about by cinema verite, culminating in Shoah. He then turns to the appearance of a fictional posttraumatic cinema, tracing its development through the vivid flashbacks in Resnais' Hiroshima, mon amour to the portrayal of pain and memory in The Pawnbroker. He excavates a posttraumatic autobiography in three early films by the Hungarian István Szabó. Finally, Hirsch examines the effects of postmodernism on posttraumatic cinema, looking at Schindler's List and a work about a different form of historical trauma, History and Memory, a videotape dealing with the internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War.

Book Description

THE LATE SHOW MAY BE YOUR LAST.

Sunnydale, California, hosts more than its fair share of action and horror. It's understandable, then, that news of the long-closed Sunnydale Drive-In's grand reopening with a scheduled night-long festival of classic action and horror movies is met with disinterest or disdain by Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia. Only Xander, who has been spending his afternoons on the drive-in's work crew, is eager to enjoy the rewards of his effort.

Buffy is too distracted to sit and take in a movie, anyway. A frightening encounter with a werewolf ends with its vanishing -- not into the woods, but evaporating like a ghost before her eyes. Suspicious people in dated clothing and hairstyles are spotted throughout town but don't appear to be the usual vampires.

And most disturbing, a sleeping sickness begins to sweep over town, leaving those affected in a state of extreme drowsiness -- or a coma.

It's no wonder no one notices the distinguished-looking gentleman of indeterminate age. His name is Balsamo. At least, that's what he's calling himself this century. But Xander simply knows him as "Boss" and has been promised a prime parking space for the upcoming evening's spectacle....

Customer Reviews:

Timeline issues.......2007-03-24

This book is based somewhere mid season two of the show, however it lacks any mention of Jenny Calendar and guessing by how Angel is still good and Xander and Cordelia are still keeping their relationship a secret, she was still a part of the show at the time. Besides from that a strong storyline with an interresting choice for the villan.

Not the best Buffy book.......2006-09-29

I did not enjoy reading this Buffy book at all. I found it to be very boring--way too much dialogue and way to little action. The author had the Scoobys arguing and explaining everything over and over again, as if the characters were strangers and had no chemistry. I didn't feel as though the author captured the characters or their relationships well at all. He had Buffy constantly feeling negative thoughts and irritation toward Willow, when their friendship (especially in the early years) was quite respectful and true blue. Giles and Buffy seemed to be depicted as not close at all and even early in their relationship, there was still love and understanding there, which I was not feeling from this book. And don't get me started on Xander, who was depicted as no-nonsense, hard-working and independent. Where was our happy-go-lucky, bumbling, jokester? (Remember, this book is supposed to be one year after Buffy came to town, so season 2, right?) I just wasn't buying it. Maybe part of the reason was that the time frame was never really clear until late in the book, or did I miss something? On that note, I must have missed something because Buffy and Angel hardly seemed to know each other, but Xander and Cordelia were already sneaking around, which didn't happen until Buffy and Angel were already going pretty hot and heavy (but before the whole Angelus stuff, so not that hot and heavy, but in love, ice skating rink, kissing Angel's demon face, ring a bell?).
Anyway, I did like that the book featured Cordelia a lot and didn't depict her as a total idiot or completely heartless. I thought her character was a little more true to form. Also, I thought the plot was cute, original and not totally predictable.
Even so, I can't bring myself to give the book more stars because I just didn't buy it and had a hard time getting through it. I don't agree with the other reviews and just had to vent!

Fun.......2006-07-02

This book was good if a little dry at times. For the most part it keeps you entertained. I like that Cordelia had a big role in the storyline. Usually in the Buffy books she is persona non grata. I did think there should be more focus on Buffy though. It did annoy me that the book didn't narrow down the time period it was set in until close to the end (the writer finally revealed it was set about a year after Buffy came to town). I wanted more about the back story of Buffy. But for a short read this was pretty good. I would recommend it to anyone with a few free hours on their hands.

"I'm not stupid," Cordelia interrupted........2006-05-15

If I hadn't just read 'Spark and Burn,' I would say that 'Afterimage' boded well for the future of Buffy as a book series. Pierce Askegren wedges this story into the time period just as Xander and Cordelia are about to become an item. It's Buffy's junior year during that brief but magical time when things seemed to be going well. Well, as well as slayage ever gets. As stranger (Balsamo) comes to town with a plan to resurrect the Sunnydale drive-in in true 50's style and suddenly waves of strange events haunt the world's most haunted town.

On patrol Buffy and Angel find themselves confronted with werewolves and nightmarish bikers who disappear into thin air when injured. Books disappear from Giles library with the aid of new school nurse and a cheerleader garbed in pink. Both of which also disappear. The Bronze gets a new visitor or two, and suddenly people are taking extra long naps. It takes a while to pin the source of the problem down, but it should be no surprise that Balsamo is not a good guy and that all the ectoplasmic weirdness has something to do with his real identity. The Scooby gang to the rescue, of course.

Askegren does an excellent job of recreating the characters. He handles Cordelia especially well, emphasizing her better qualities. The story borrows its location from other chronicles of the Buffiverse, but it is by no means a slavish effort to simply repeat the same old stuff. As a result the story manages to maintain its freshness. Not at all a bad effort, especially for someone's first try at a Buffy story. It lacks the drama of some of the other novels, but I'm sure most fans will enjoy this visit to the hellmouth.

Good Solid Fun Read.......2006-03-17

I'm suprised that some other reviewers, who basically liked this book, only gave it 3 stars. This isn't American Idol, you don't have to be so exacting. I've read practically all the Buffy books and this isn't the best, but I still gave it 5 stars. Why? Because it's GOOD. The author captured the characters, dialogue and the fun aspects of the show well. Also, I thought the whole drive-in concept was pretty clever and original with some funny moments. I loved the whole Inga/Giles bit too! Some parts lag a bit with some spotty writing here and there, but lighten up folks. Wouldn't you all rather have this guy write another book then some of the hacks they've had in the past? At least Askegren knows what he's doing, Marie Celeste flub, aside. My 5 stars indicate to other Buffy fans that Afterimage is worthwhile and a fun read, nothing more. What's the best? That's debateable. Let's try to encourage the publishers to keep the good writers, like this guy, going. Who knows maybe his next one WILL be the best.

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BRANDON'S LAW
A Creaking Plot
Great Beginning - And All Downhill From There!
AFTERIMAGE by Jay Brandon
A great follow-up

Afterimage (Chris Sinclair)
Jay Brandon
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0812540441

Amazon.com

District Attorney Chris Sinclair is stunned by the resemblance between the forensically reconstructed face of a 14-year-old murder victim and the college sweetheart he hasn't seen for almost two decades. Although the girl was gone from home for three months before her body was found in a shallow grave on the outskirts of San Antonio, she'd never been reported missing. And when Chris finds her mother, Jean, he discovers two more equally shocking facts: Kristen, the murdered teenager, has an older sister, Clarissa, who is Chris's own daughter; and Clarissa is missing too.

Sinclair's troubled feelings compel his very personal interest in saving the child he's never met, and in tracking down the presumed perpetrator of both crimes--a shadowy Fagin-like businessman named Raleigh Pentell who controls a gang of young thieves and supplies them and their classmates with illegal drugs as well. Managing to rescue Clarissa from her captivity, Chris assembles a difficult and circumstantial case against Pentell. But in the process of bringing him to justice, Chris discovers that Jean, who lived a little outside the law when they were lovers, may have been involved in her daughters' murder and abduction.

While the denouement is a bit long in coming, the growing relationships between Chris and his daughter and between Clarissa and adolescent psychologist Anne Greenwald, Chris's fiancée, are enough to sustain one's interest until the end; Brandon is an accomplished writer with atypical insight into his characters' emotional lives, which are movingly explicated. Jean remains an enigma and not as fully explored as she might have been. Although not an entirely sympathetic figure, she lingers in the reader's mind after the other characters have faded away. --Jane Adams

Book Description

District Attorney Chris Sinclair has never really forgotten his first real love, Jean, a college girlfriend from the era of free love, a wild young woman who introduced him to a world of sex and drugs and alcohol drastically unlike is own. But she left his life in college and he's never seen her since, until a young woman is found buried in a shallow grave on the outskirts of San Antonio. Through forensic reconstruction of the decomposed skull, a face takes shape. A detail or two is different, but there's no doubt the face is Jean's, like an after image in his mind, he sees her face in the young girl's and he knows. What he doesn't know is why Jean wouldn't have reported her own daughter's disappearance; the body had been buried for months.

Customer Reviews:

BRANDON'S LAW.......2004-06-13

This is my first Jay Brandon novel, and after reading this well-crafted thriller, I am going to try and catch up on his other works.
Brandon's plot is as thick as thieves, and he masterfully winds the reader through the involved story. Young District Attorney Chris Sinclair finds himself drawn into his past as a young girls body found in a shallow grave turns out to be the daughter of his college sweetheart. Further problems ensue when he finds out that the girl has an older sister, Clarissa, who just might be his daughter.
Sinclair digs deep to find the child's killer and rescue his supposedly kidnapped daughter. The killer is apprehended, but it's up to Sinclair with very little evidence to bring the man to justice.
There are several unexpected twists and turns and a tight, tense denouement.
There's lots of good legal writers out there, and I add Jay Brandon to the list!

A Creaking Plot.......2001-03-01

The author gets a lot of his law right, but then wants us to believe that the DA does his own investigating, even doing a little b&e on the side. Too much to buy.

Great Beginning - And All Downhill From There!.......2000-12-28

It's always difficult to write a bad review when one realizes the weeks and months that must go into writing a novel. But this book is just a waste. The idea for the book is good and it begins well. A woman is been found dead and the hero recognizes the face of his old love when he sees a reconstruction of the face of the corpse. But from that point the author does not know where to go. The plot limps along with a lot of pointless conversations, little action, and badly described emotions. It is difficult to maintain interest in the characters. I wish I had not read this book and - if you buy it - you'll be sorry too.

AFTERIMAGE by Jay Brandon.......2000-12-17

I couldn't put this one down! Stayed up late to finish it...a chiller. Not easy to read because youngsters are in danger and one has already died. Some of the characters are not as they seem, and the D.A. Chris Sinclair has to figure it out before it's too late. Not only a young girl's safety is at stake, but that of Chris and his sweetheart.

A great follow-up.......2000-06-09

As a New Englander now reincarnated as a Texan, I have been reading up on the local authors. San Antonio is fortunate to have Jay Brandon in addition to Rick Riordan as storytellers with a local flavor. "Afterimage" is the second Brandon title to feature Chris Sinclair, a young District Attorney, and his lover, Dr. Anne Greenwald. In this book Chris hooks up, unexpectedly, with an old college girlfriend and discovers her/his involvement in a complicated crime. My only problem with the plot is the somewhat unrealistic portrayal of Jean Fitzgerald, the mother of two "lost" teenage daughters who happens to be the old college lover. Her "wildness" just doesn't ring true to this reviewer. Other than this minor quibble, I enjoyed the twisting plot, local color, and the ever unfolding relationship between Chris and Anne. Please tell us that this series will continue!

Art, Activism, and Oppositionality: Essays from Afterimage

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Art, Activism, and Oppositionality: Essays from Afterimage
Grant Kester
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0822320959

Book Description

There is a common perception in the arts today that overtly activist artæoften seen to sacrifice an aesthetic pleasure for a subversive oneæis no longer in fashion. In bringing together sixteen of the most important essays on activist and community-based art from the pages of Afterimageæone of the most influential journals in the media and visual arts fields for more than twenty-five yearsæGrant H. Kester demonstrates that activist art, far from being antithetical to the true meaning of the aesthetic, can be its most legitimate expression.

Forging a style of criticism where aesthetic, critical, theoretical, and activist concerns converge, Afterimage has shaped American debates around the politics of visual production and arts education while offering a voice to politically involved artists and scholars. Art, Activism, and Oppositionality insists not only on the continuing relevance of an activist stance to contemporary art practice and criticism, but also on the significance of an engaged art practice that is aligned with social or political activism. With essays that span fifteen yearsæroughly from Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential win to the 1994 Republican victories in Congress, a period marked by waning public support for the arts and growing antagonism toward activist art æArt, Activism, and Oppositionality confronts issues ranging from arts patronage, pedagogy, and the very definitions of art and activism to struggles involving AIDS, reproductive rights, sexuality, and racial identity.

Art, Activism, and Oppositionality will interest students and scholars of contemporary art history, media studies, cultural studies, and the fine arts, as well as, arts activists, critics, and arts administrators.

Contributors. Maurice Berger, Richard Bolton, Ann Cvetkovich, Coco Fusco, Brian Goldfarb, Mable Haddock, Grant H. Kester, Ioannis Mookas, Chiquita Mullins Lee, Darrell Moore, Lorraine O’Grady, Michael Renov, Martha Rosler, Patricia Thomson, David Trend, Charles A. Wright Jr., Patricia R. Zimmerman

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Afterimage: Drawing Through Process
Cornelia H. Butler
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0262522624

Book Description

The term "process art" describes a moment of radical, aformal experimentation in postwar American sculpture. Through the medium of drawing, Afterimage revisits process art in terms of the artists who defined the movement and suggests a transitional moment when many of its practitioners anticipated the feminist and postminimalist art of the 1970s. Nancy Grossman's use of language, for example, suggests a kind of material abstraction, and Nancy Holt's earth works and related drawings introduced content into a minimalist vocabulary. The book also explores the drawing as a residual object in works in which the process of making dictates the form of the drawing. Examples include Gordon Matta-Clark's stacked cuttings, Robert Morris' "blind time" drawings, and Sol Lewitt's folded construction drawings. Other works, such as those by Bruce Nauman and Robert Smithson, record a particular approach to body-based and process-oriented sculpture.

The book, which accompanies an exhibition, contains an essay by Cornelia H. Butler on the historical ambiguity surrounding process art and one by Pamela M. Lee on temporality in work of the late 1960s. The artists included in the book are William Anastasi, Richard Artschwager, Mel Bochner, Agnes Denes, Nancy Grossman, Robert Grosvenor, Marcia Hafif, Eva Hesse, Nancy Holt, Barry LeVa, Sol Lewitt, Lee Lozano, Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Gordon Matta-Clark, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Yvonne Rainer, Dorothea Rockburne, Alan Saret, Joel Shapiro, Robert Smithson, Michelle Stuart, Richard Tuttle, and Jack Whitten.

Copublished with The Museum of Contemporary Art. Los Angeles.

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE:

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
April 11-August 22, 1999

Contemporary Arts Museum
Houston, Texas
May-July 2000

Henry Art Gallery
Seattle, Washington
July-September 2000

Afterimages; Zen poems (A Doubleday anchor book, A843)

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Afterimages; Zen poems (A Doubleday anchor book, A843)
Shinkichi Takahashi
Manufacturer: Anchor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 0385025157

Afterlife as Afterimage: Understanding Posthumous Fame

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Afterlife as Afterimage: Understanding Posthumous Fame

Manufacturer: Peter Lang Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0820463655

Book Description

The mass media make it possible for fame to be enhanced and transformed posthumously. What does it mean to fans when a celebrity dies, and how can death change the way that celebrities are perceived and celebrated? How do we mourn and remember? What can different forms of communication reveal about the role of media in our lives?

Book Description

In a daring, beautiful novel set in the turbulent world of Victorian England, a maid, mistress, and master are drawn into a fateful love triangle.

When Annie Phelan arrives at the Dashells' farm to begin work as a maid, she finds her new mistress strapping wings on a naked boy who is to play the Angel of Death. Annie knows one thing for sure-she is not at the prim Mrs.Gilbey's anymore.

England in 1864 is a place of change. This is the age of invention, Crystal Palace, progress, the colonies. At the farm, the master dreams of far-flung exploration, while the mistress, Isabel, struggles with the new technology -- photography -- to produce art. And she struggles as well with her unimaginative help, who cannot play the roles she assigns.

It is Annie, beautiful, suggestible, and sensitive, who proves to be Isabel's inspiration. Through a series of portraits -- Guinevere, Ophelia, Grace, the Madonna -- the mistress transforms the maid into her confidante and muse. To the master, though, Annie becomes "Phelan," a member of his fantasy Arctic expedition. Caught between the two, Annie nearly loses herself, until disaster reveals her power over the Dashells' work and hearts.

Exquisite in its evocations, Afterimage is a boldly transgressive story of class, love, art, and freedom.

Customer Reviews:

Adequately Done.......2006-10-24

Humphreys can write - there is no doubt about it and this outing only further solidifies her as someone to watch out for. She has a very sparse way of writing, something similar to Lily Tuck and an inferior Margaret Duras, but has a way of conveying emotion to varying degrees of success with very little prose. When done well in this book, it is marvelous, when done poorly, a 10 year-old may as well have written it.

The story reminds me of Ishiguro's "The Remains of the Day" in that it is primarily from the viewpoint of a servant in an upper class household. What ensues is a pseudo-love triangle between Annie (the maid) and Isabelle and her husband, in which both turn to her for a type of solace. Isabelle and her husband originally married for numerous reasons including what they thought was love, only to realize that they didn't really care for one another beyond the circumstances that brought them together. Where Isabelle turns to photography,Eldon turns to his mapmaking. Annie becomes close to both of them and the triangle ensues.

I don't know what the New York Times saw in this book to make it one of their notable books of the year. It's good, but nothing that warrants any real attention. The story is OK as is the commentary on art and its place in the world, but the repressed love that is seemingly the strongest aspect of the novel is also the weakest, as no climax or carthasis is reached and it ends in a convoluted attempt to come across as having more depth than it actually has.

interesting -.......2003-06-18

Loved the characters - especially Isabelle. The photography and cartography 'hobbies' made for a terrific vein through which the characters lived.
I give it 4.5 stars.

Beautiful.......2003-02-22

Helen Humphreys' Afterimage is a beautiful, lyrical novel that tells the story of Annie Phelan a young Irish woman who takes a job as a maid in 1865 for an eccentric pair in England. Isabelle is a photographer who desperately desires to be taken seriously as an artist and her husband Eldon is a cartographer who faces similar dilemmas. Annie's intelligence and beauty endear her to the couple, for varying reasons. She ultimately becomes a subject for Isabelle's photos and almost a friend to Isabelle. The conflict between what role Annie plays in the household and with her employers is a source of confusion for young Annie. The story is interesting, mesmerizing and well written. Enjoy.

Beautiful and reflecting.......2003-01-01

This novel has not much of a plot, but that does not really matter; rather, it can actually be seen as a strength. Annie Phelan is hired as a new maid by a somewhat strange couple: Isabelle, photographer and Eldon, writer. Isabelle is struggling against people's prejudices (the novel is set in Victorian England and it shows): she is a woman, she does not have any children and she does not care much for class distinctions. On top of the above, she is a photographer, and a talented one. However, when she gets some success, she realizes, finally, that it does not matter, she is still her father's daughter and that is all. Her husband, Eldon, is very supportive of her art, although distant in other matters. They have had three children together, none of which lived. Eldon dreams about exploring the world, but his health makes that impossible, so he reads and writes instead. Both Isabelle and Eldon are infatuated by Annie. Isabelle uses her as a model, and Eldon talks with her about books.

I consider this to be a very beautiful novel. Reading it increases your understanding of human beings. This is not a very dramatic story, but there is much to think about. I cannot get this novel out of my head.

Love through a lens.......2002-11-30

In 1865, Annie Phelan leaves London to become housemaid for the Dashells, an artistic couple who've grown distant from each other after a succession of stillbirths. Eldon Dashell dreams of becoming a great cartographer and explorer, and Isabelle Dashell is determined to create her art through photography, in spite of the ridicule she receives from her peers. Isabelle uses Annie as a model, and the young woman quickly becomes her muse, inspiring her to greater heights with her portraits of Guinevere, Ophelia, Sappho, the Madonna, and other iconic images. Annie also connects with Eldon and his fascination with Sir John Franklin's disastrous Arctic exploration, and she becomes a catalyst for transformation for everyone in the house, including herself. Annie has awoken the passions of Isabelle, and the sudden flames burst through their love triangle and prove the undoing of all. "Afterimage" is a luxurious novel about awakening, love, art, and freedom in a time when nothing seemed possible. It's as if Charlotte Brontë's "Jane Eyre" were mixed with Sylvia Brownrigg's "Pages for You" to create a unique, moving story.

Afterimage: The Indelible Catholic Imagination of Six American Filmmakers

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Interesting and novel perspective

Afterimage: The Indelible Catholic Imagination of Six American Filmmakers
Richard A. Blake
Manufacturer: Loyola Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Direction & Production | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0829415505

Customer Reviews:

Interesting and novel perspective.......2000-07-27

Though film synopses are not especially artistic or exciting, Fr Blake's thesis of how Catholic concepts of community, sacrament, and symbol influenced six major directors is well presented. The underlying ideas were quite thought provoking, even if their relation to some film sequences bordered on the contrived. Impeccable scholarship in a readable work - and a good present for an intellectual film buff.

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Another great series!!
Just a review
Vampire and Dhamphir in Love?
Kiss of the Dragon
beautiful reincarnation romance

Afterimage
Jaye Roycraft
Manufacturer: Imajinn Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1893896749

Book Description

Russian Alek Dragovich, enforcer for the Undead, is feeling the weight of his years and has yet to find the elusive affaire d'amour that would lighten his burden. Nothing, but nothing, is going well.His position in the Directorate is in jeopardy, and even his mentor Nikolena is threatening to remove her support if Drago doesn't stop employing his unorthodox methods of resolving his cases. Nikolena gives Drago one last chance to redeem himself-to locate and eliminate a high-ranking member of the Brotherhood who is using forbidden methods to ascend the hierarchy. Still, Drago has little interest in Nikolena's schemes until this one becomes personal. When someone tries to kill him...that's personal.That "someone" is raven-haired Gypsy Marya Jaks, daughter of a dhampir, offspring of a vampire and his mortal wife. Dhampirs are famous among the Roma for their ability to detect vampires, thereby making them perfect vampire killers. When Marya learns that Drago has deemed her a threat to the vampire community and has ordered her termination, she strikes back. Drago, the hunter, has become the hunted, but is it Marya who truly wants him dead or Nikolena's mysterious power-hungry vampire? Drago resolves to keep Marya alive until he can learn the truth, and he must summon the strength of will to elevate himself from pawn to player in the deadliest of games.The afterimage of Drago's neon blue eyes has haunted Marya from the first moment she encountered him in her bedroom, but will the image signify her destruction, or a bond so powerful it can overcome a legacy of hatred.

Customer Reviews:

Another great series!!.......2003-07-28

I loved this book and I highly recommend getting the other three books in the series. The books are hard to find right now but hopefully the publisher (Imajinn) will be printing more copies. The characters are strong and well defined. Once I started it, I didn't want to put it down.

Just a review.......2003-03-10

This book is very interresting. I would recommend the Image series to people who love: action, fighting, romance & suspense. Afterimage is about Drago, a vampire enforcer who must make sure that the other vampires obey the rules set forth by the Directorate (The vampire council.) Drago finds out that someone is trying to destroy him & that someone is named Marya Jaks. However, Marya is just a pawn used by Drago's real foe. Will Drago, now teamed up w/ Marya; discover who the real enemy is before it is too late & will his new teammate (Marya) give him something that he has been longing for, a companion.

Buy the book & find out. You WILL NOT be disappointed.

Sincerely,
JenJayLynn

Vampire and Dhamphir in Love?.......2002-11-08

Marya Jaks hates vampires. Her grandfather was one and her father was a vampire slayer killed by a vampire. Because she is part vampire, the Vampire Council, has reviewed her case every few years since she reached adulthood. So, with a potential death sentence over her head, Marya leads a rather lonely life, not wanting to get too involved with anyone. She hates the vampires even more for this, even though she doesn't have her father's need to kill any of them. The council sends L'Enforcier, Drago to give her her final evaluation. Drago, is tired of running errands and just to be contrary, grants her life. Marya is relieved and starts her life anew. Until another Enforcer arrives to tell her that Drago has reversed her decision. Furious and with nothing to lose, she sets out to kill Drago. The only problem is, Drago didn't reverse his decision, and has to keep her with him to protect he while he finds out who really gave the erroneous orders.

This was a fast moving novel, with almost no break in the action. I read it in one sitting.

Kiss of the Dragon.......2002-08-18

AFTERIMAGE is second in the Image Series created by Jaye Roycraft. First introduced in DOUBLE IMAGE, it is primarily the story of Alek Dragovich, l'enforcier, the sometimes hated primary Enforcer of the Directorate, a vampire hierarchy beset by betrayal, corruption and jealousy. Dragovich is not especially loved by his comrades, nor by the beings he polices in the underworld. Only Nikolena, la directrice of Drago's particular branch of the Directorate, seems able to tolerate his insolence and his desire to do things "The Drago Way." But his relationship with Nikolena is a rocky one. When she sends Drago to pass judgment on Marya Jaks, a dhampir, or half-vampire, whose father was a renowned hunter of the undead, Drago purposely grants the beautiful--and herself insolent--Marya life, despite her danger to vampirekind. The decision sets into motion a conspiracy to remove Drago from his seat of power. But who is behind this sudden desire to tear Drago down in the ranks?

At first, Drago believes it is Marya herself who is out to destroy him--Marya who is embittered by her life and treated as an enemy both to humankind as well as the Directorate. Marya who belongs to both worlds and to neither of them. But Marya soon shows her true intention: she wants to live free, nothing more, and she forges a hesitant relationship with Drago for just that purpose. In a strange twist of fate, a member of her hated half-kin has now become her protector as a twining of events leads Drago and Marya all over the map in search of clues as to the identity of the being responsible for wanting Marya dead and Drago unseated. Can Drago uncover his secret nemesis before the clock runs out? And can Marya accept the fact that she has feelings for the rogue vampire who saved her life? An interesting array of emotional fireworks ensures.

AFTERIMAGE is a fast-paced story coupled with romantic suspense, action and drama. The characters are real and believable, from the sultry Drago to the bittersweet Marya and even Revelin Scott, Drago's assistant (Or is he more?) who added a wonderful flair of humor and tongue-in-cheek to the story. I have to admit that before I was done I began to hope the author would deem Scott worthy of his own story someday as his hip, charming and mysterious character stepped easily off the page. Jaye Roycraft is a definite force behind the next generation of paranormal romance and June 2002 will see the release of her newest in the Image Series, SHADOW IMAGE.

Karen Koehler,
Author of Slayer and Scarabus

beautiful reincarnation romance.......2002-08-12

Darcy Kincaid is half-English and half-Egyptian, which makes her a pariah in Victorian England where bloodlines are most important. Her grandmother wants Darcy to marry an Englishman, produce heirs, and ignore her tainted Egyptian heritage. Rather then take the easy way out, Darcy is determined to earn enough money to pay for her passage to Egypt. She is working on writing a collection of Egyptian stories that she hopes will get published and she accepts the position of secretary to Dr. Simon Garrett, writing a book on the derivation of words.

When she first arrives at Rosewood Hall, Simon wants to dismiss her because he expected a male but Darcy's typing skills persuades him to give her a chance. From the very beginning Simon and Darcy are attracted to one another as if they knew each other in another lifetime. Both try to fight the attraction but neither are successful yet if they are to find any happiness, they must fight the evil that dwells within their midst.

J.A. Ferguson has written a beautiful reincarnation romance starring two lovers who must fight and win against an old enemy if they are to have a second chance at life and love. Set against a mid-Victorian English background, Call BACK YESTERDAY is a gothic ghost tale that will appeal to lovers of romance that have a strong dose of the paranormal in the plot.

Harriet Klausner

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