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The Kiss of Death
by Marcus Sedgwick

Release Date: 1st Sep 2008
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 978 1 8425 5185 1
RRP: £9.99

Average Customer Rating: 
(0.0 based on 0 ratings)

Neither terrifying, nor exciting...

It is hard to say what makes a chilling tale, one that drives you ever onwards in a insatiable thirst, one that makes you feel a need to reach the end, but The Kiss of Death is not it.

Marko is an unassuming boy who has grown up far away from the decadence and scruples of big city life, but when a letter arrives written by his father's hand declaring a desire to murder as well as news of his disappearance from Venice; someone must go to uncover the truth. Falteringly, Marko makes his way to the fabled city and is immediately awed by it. But not so much as his is awed by Sorrel, the scornful and relentlessly morbid daughter of Simono Bellini, friend to Marko's father. Simono is going slowly mad and Marko's father was the only one who could help him - and yet he has vanished. As Marko and Sorrel try to untangle the mystery, then fall foul of crazed individuals who are linked to a remarkably un-scary and un-terrifying cult of wannabe Vampires.

The Shadow Queen plays a bit part and her unveiling is unspectacular. As is the discovery that Marko's father is being held prisoner. In fact, even the cult of pretend-vampires is insipid and rather lack-lustre. Of course, all ends well at an astonishingly rapid pace, which makes the plot somewhat of an anti-climax.

Sedgwick may have won awards and acclaim for previous titles, but I would be amazed if The Kiss of Death reaches those climes. It may be well written, and he does deliver a wonderful account of an age-old Venice, but there is simply nothing to hold it all together. Not one of his best.

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20 August 2009: Katie Randall wrote:
I read the Kiss of Death a year ago when trying to keep myself from boredom whilst going to many hosptial appointments. To be frank, it didn't help much with the boredom. The storyline was clear but was long, and seemed to drag on and on, never getting to the point. It wasn't really exciting or frightening either. Not the worst book I've read but no where near the best.

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