Karen Koehler, author of the popular vampire series, Slayer, has presented us with another tale of immortals: one that is original and is great fun to read.

Scarabus is the name of the main character, a demon made in ancient Egypt out of a young tomb painter, husband and proud father, and a victim of the members of a religious cult who intend to become omnipotent rulers.

After destroying his creators three thousand years ago, he has to accept his new life, one without ageing and death, but one in which he has to consume the flesh of fellow human beings through the scarabs, the beetles his body is a container for.

The events leading up to his presence in today's Chicago are recalled by Scarabus himself.

This is also a love story, as his wife keeps reincarnating, but tragic events separate them on every single occasion. She appears in Chicago as a young Egyptologist, Victoria, and this time there seems to be a way to change the course of events, though his enemies--the mad priests who made him--also keep coming back.
This is a tale about love, cruelty, revenge, gruesome memories and unfulfilled desires. The reader is also invited to a journey through time and space, to ancient Egypt, but also to other places. The main character, Scarabus, is easy to identify with--even though he is a mass murderer--as his vulnerability makes him very human. I also liked the humor in the story.

In one part of the book Koehler uses Budapest, the city where I live, as a setting and she makes several mistakes concerning the place; for example she repeatedly uses the word 'politia', which is not a Hungarian one, and she seems to associate the country with crime and corruption, and, though she mentions the fall of communism, the reader can still have the impression that the country is not very democratic. (For example, though this happens to Scarabus' employee, foreigners are not very likely to be taken into custody without any proof of their committing a crime.) Fortunately, the above mentioned mistakes do not make the book less enjoyable.

Karen Koehler really knows how to write and her writing engages the reader right from the beginning. I am waiting for the next book to come out.

I recommend this book mainly for those who like vampire fiction or horror in general, especially if they also like romance, adventure and historical settings.

Reviewed By Ilona Hegedus
© May 2005