London Under Midnight

    The graffiti spread through London that summer like
wildfire. Its population carried on with life as usual in one of the richest
cities on the planet. But beneath the surface there is change. Men and women are
going missing without trace. What has the old African preacher seen emerging
from undergrowth near the river? Is this the essence of evil encountered long
ago? Ben Ashton is an investigative writer. When he's commissioned to find out
who is responsible for the 'Vampire Sharkz' graffiti he thinks his luck has
changed for the better. Little does he guess how wrong he is?
    
***
    
    From Publishers Weekly
    Clark's efforts at an original variation on the vampire
theme yield a novel whose plot is farfetched even by the standards of
supernatural fiction. Journalist Ben Ashton is researching the origins of a
graffiti tag scrawled around London warning of "Vampire Sharkz" when he
encounters a real vampire in the person of unrequited flame April Connor. April
is one of a rapidly growing pack of vampirized mortals doing the bidding of
Edshu, an African trickster god who, for reasons murkily elaborated, is using
London, and his antagonism of Ben specifically, as a means of testing the moral
mettle of all humanity. Much mayhem ensues before Ben discovers that the only
effective way to eliminate the vampire scourge is through the power of positive
thinking. Clark (Darkness Demands) keeps the action brisk and the gore
pulsing, but the novel's events are so contrived that they have to be explained
for the reader's benefit in windy oratory passages from an eccentric displaced
African preacher, who's the only one who can make any sense out of them. This is
passable pulp, but anemic fare as far as vampire fiction goes.
    
***
    
    From Booklist
    Here's a treat for horror fans. When mysterious graffiti
starts appearing all over London, magazine writer Ben Ashton is hired to write a
story about the person behind it. Little does Ben know that the graffiti
("Vampire Sharkz. They're coming to get you") isn't just pointless vandalism.
Like Anne Rice in her early vampire novels, Clark really gets under the skin of
the modern vampire; rarely has the psychological trauma of transforming from
mortal to immortal been rendered so movingly, and rarely has the vampire
bloodlust been so vividly described. Clark, familiar to some fans of horror
fiction but largely unknown by everybody else, deserves a much wider audience.
This thrilling, terrifying, and deeply affecting story might just be the one
that captures it for him.
    
***
    
    From Kirkus Reviews
    A rapacious breed of vampire inundates London under the
direction of an African trickster god in this horrorfest set against an urban
backdrop.
    Some smart-alecky graffiti artist is marking London with
the creepy message, "Vampire Sharkz: They're coming to get you," and bright
young writer Ben Ashton's editor at glossy Click This magazine gives him 11 days
to get to the bottom of what seems to be a hot story. His research takes Ben to
visit the apparently nutty old African preacher Elmo Kigoma, who's seated in a
boat perched on top of a pole along the Thames. The end of the world is coming,
Elmo warns passersby: From his vantage point during the night, he has witnessed
raving gangs of savage creatures emerging from the river, attacking bikers and
pedestrians at random, sucking their blood greedily, then regurgitating their
feast back into the victims, who in turn become vampires. Ben doesn't believe a
word of it… until he sees for himself. Elmo tells him the vampires are acting on
the mischievous prodding of African trickster god Edshu, who tests humans
periodically by pitting them against each other. When Ben hears of the attack on
his old friend (and unrequited love) April Connor, who then disappears, he moves
into action. He enlists the help of both Elmo and April's fiance, wealthy
shipping scion Trajan, to identify the vampires and locate the island in the
Thames where they find shelter. Clark dramatizes April's ghastly plight on the
vampire island; eventually, she and another bloodsucker decide they have to
return to London proper and spread the news of the amazing benefits of drinking
blood. Descriptions of ripping flesh and dripping liquids become repetitive,
though Elmo's resolution of the vampire crisis through New Age-y visualization
techniques is clever, even endearing.
    Plenty of gore, but pretty routine.
    
***
    
    "Without doubt the best horror author the UK can
currently claim as its own."
    -SFX
    
    "Simon Clark has what it takes to be another Stephen
King."
    -Hellnotes