He walks alone, a being of darkness, one with a remorseless hunger for human blood. Yet despite his very nature, that which marks him out as different and damned, Thorne strives along with others of his kind to maintain a code of conduct, to limit their damage upon an unsuspecting humanity. But others of his ilk, renegades and rogues, are not bound by such niceties. They feed and kill wantonly, without remorse. Inevitably, these two groups must clash. Thorne finds himself right in the middle of it all. And, there is worse to come.

Vampires are loose upon the world! There are both good and bad ones – not to mention the evil imitators, those who are bent upon trying to gain immortal life through any means available, however detestable. Thorne, a member of the Kind, those supernatural creatures who have banded together in an attempt to control the chaos, thinks his job is to hunt down those who wish to remain outside the Kind, to either persuade them to join the group, or face extermination if they won't stop their evil ways. But Thorne ultimately faces an even greater problem when a serial killer strikes...

Addison Thorne is a loner by nature and circumstances. Being a creature of the night, allergic to sunshine, he carries on a singular existence. We first meet him sipping blood from a member of his "herd," the accountant, Foster. Thorne does not carry this too far, for he is a member of the Kind, those vampires who believe that draining their victims dry and thus killing them is wrong. When he finishes feeding, Thorne wills the unsuspecting Foster to sleep, to forget everything that has occurred. Although weak, the man will recover and live a normal life, until Thorne needs him once more.

Completing his blood meal, Thorne goes to his job at the copy center where he works. Not really a sociable type, he communicates as little as possible with his surly coworkers, except for the occasional bit of acrimonious banter. One of those coworkers is a woman named Susan. Later, at home, while trying to sleep in his boarding room, Thorne receives a phone call from a fellow member of the Kind, Thorne's superior, Flanagan. He meets with Flanagan and the vampire informs Thorne that another rogue vampire, one who refuses to become a member of the Kind, has been located. It is Thorne's job to find and deal with him.

The story segues periodically to introduce us gradually to a stranger, an unknown man who seems intent upon some action. Slowly, it becomes clear that the man is bent on murder, wanting to drink the blood of his victims in order to forcibly convert himself into a vampire and gain immortality.

Meanwhile, Thorne undertakes his assigned task to locate the rogue vampire. He quits his job at the copy center to work undercover, in the guise of a partner to Ted Brewer, an ambulance driver and paramedic. While doing this, Thorne confirms that Ted preys upon those in auto accidents, draining them of their blood and killing them. Ted is the rogue vampire. Thorne confronts Ted, tries to persuade him to join the Kind, and when he refuses, Thorne is forced to kill him. There is no alternative. By their risky and extreme behavior, rogues threaten the safety of the more compassionate Kind.

Returning to his own home, Thorne receives a telephone call and letter from a Detective Lanyard with the San Simian Police Department. Susan, his annoying coworker, has been murdered, her body drained of blood. It evolves that the detective suspects Thorne, because he is the only one without a "rock solid" alibi. Despite Thorne's attempts to fabricate one, Detective Lanyard is becoming ever more convinced that Thorne is his man.

At this point, Thorne reaches a crucial decision. He must find out who the serial killer is, why he's doing what he's doing, and somehow stop him. If not, growing complications with the police could entrap him, ensnare him in a widening web of problems, which could result in his being unmasked as a vampire. More importantly, it could have terrible repercussions for all those of the Kind. Thorne must find the killer before the world becomes aware of the Kind.

As stories go, I found Thorne, a novel by Patrick Welch, to be well written. Patrick shows a flair for description and mood setting, and knows how to build a suspense thriller. If I had any problem with this story, it is that for me it was an unrelieved dark piece, and although the characters were quite real for me, they are almost invariably not a very likeable set of people. Even the main character, Thorne himself, although a creature of conscience, comes across as not someone with whom I would personally want to identify, a humorless person at best. One other slight problem I had with the story and this was just a personal thing that bothered me, was the use of the city name, San Simian. Simian refers to apes, and so San Simian kept coming across as Saint Ape to me. I kept stumbling over this every time I saw it. I think using San Simeon, or some other spelling variation, might just be a better way to go.

Still, as such tales are told, and despite the constantly dark and somewhat dreary nature of this piece, the writing is good, the plot is well constructed, and the story held my interest. Patrick Welch shows talent. I would recommend Thorne to readers who enjoy fantasy detective stories.

Reviewed By Rob Shelsky
© November 2006