The Quick by Lauren Owen

Charlotte and James Norbury grow up in a huge old mansion out in the country, playing on the overgrown pathways and in the dusty library. From reading other gothic horror novels, you would think that it would be in the mansion that the siblings would meet some eldritch abomination, but in The Quick by Lauren Owen, it is London where brother and sister are plagued by an evil they are afraid to name. When James disappears into the bowels of Victorian London, Charlotte must find him before it's too late.

You won't find it on the book jacket, but (SPOILERS, I guess) the twist is that there are vampires in London, vampires who are not glamorous and romantic but repulsive and alien. They are both disgusted and attracted to humans, which they call the Quick, and their natures cannot be controlled like in certain other vampire narratives. I thought this was an interesting take on vampires being  truly repulsive instead of perversely attractive. However, the main characters, James and Charlotte, don't have much to do and are swept along for the ride rather than directing the action. Side characters do most of the action and planning while the two Norburys follow along in their wake. However, fans of gothic horror and Anne Rice will gobble this dark, dreamlike novel right up.

Shannon Wood, Adult Services Librarian