{"id":324,"date":"2006-10-25T21:41:50","date_gmt":"2006-10-26T04:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=324"},"modified":"2025-06-29T08:52:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T12:52:09","slug":"the-dark-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/324","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dark Sleep<\/em> (1999) P.N. Elrod<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I don’t know how I messed it up, but somehow I thought that The Dark Sleep<\/em> came after Lady Crymsyn<\/em>. This would be wrong. The Dark Sleep<\/em> precedes Lady Crymsyn<\/em>. Luckily, both are stand alone books, so I didn’t lose anything by reading them out of order.<\/p>\n

This was a somewhat complicated mystery with lots of twists. But what I liked best about it was that we finally learned something about Escott’s past. Shoe Coldfield has made insinuations through multiple books that Charles is haunted by his past, but when pressed, repeats that Jack should get Charles drunk and press him for the story himself.<\/p>\n

One thing that seriously bothered me was the “flashback” of Shoe telling Jack what happened to Charles. I didn’t mind the idea of it, what I minded was that Shoe was supposed to be telling Jack what happened, but the first line of the event was Escott’s reflection on the events. That disconnect completely threw me from the story, because I had to go back and make sure Charles hadn’t gotten up to tell the story himself (he hadn’t).<\/p>\n

I didn’t find the mystery particularly strong, but finally learning some of Escott’s history made up for it. It isn’t a nice history mind you, but we do finally learn it. <\/p>\n

This is an important book in the series–not for what happens to Jack, but because we learn about Charles. However, this book is (unusually for the series) somewhat isolated from the rest of the series, so it wouldn’t make a bad starting point into the series. Additionally, for anyone who wanted to skip reading Fire in the Blood<\/em>, Blood on the Water<\/em>, and A Chill in the Blood<\/em>, the important result of those three books (How Jack gets the money to open Lady Crymsyn) is briefly covered here. (My apologies to P.N. Elrod, but I really felt those three books should have been condensed into one. Then I might not have minded it so much.)<\/p>\n

Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dark Sleep (1999) P.N. Elrod I don’t know how I messed it up, but somehow I thought that The Dark Sleep came after Lady Crymsyn. This would be wrong. The Dark Sleep precedes Lady Crymsyn. Luckily, both are stand alone books, so I didn’t lose anything by reading them out of order. This was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[193,2,8,291,43,16],"tags":[873,546,314,312,872,313],"class_list":["post-324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-10","category-fantasy","category-mystery","category-paper","category-private-eye","category-supernatural","tag-chicago","tag-interwar-period","tag-jack-fleming","tag-p-n-elrod","tag-prohibition","tag-vampires"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5e","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":323,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/323","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":0},"title":"Lady Crymsyn","author":"Michelle","date":"October 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Lady Crymsyn (2000) P.N. Elrod After finishing the last three books, I was reluctant to read this book, for fear it would continue what felt to me as a downward spiral. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Lady Crymsyn went back to the things that I had liked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Lady-Crymson.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":276,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/276","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":1},"title":"Bloodcircle","author":"Michelle","date":"June 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Vampire Files: Bloodcircle (1990) P.N. Elrod The third book in The Vampire Files series, Bloodcircle, seems to clear up the last bits of Jack Flemming's past. Jack and Charles Escott decide to travel to New York to see if they can discover what happened to Maureen. I have to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/Vampire-Files-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":275,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/275","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":2},"title":"Lifeblood","author":"Michelle","date":"June 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Vampire Files: Lifeblood (1990) P.N. Elrod Several weeks have passed since the events of Bloodlust, and Charles Escott offers Jack a part in his investigative services. But the next case they end up investigating end up being a search for the whereabouts of Jack's lover Maureen--the vampire who sired\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/Vampire-Files-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4699,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4699","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":3},"title":"Strange Brew","author":"Michelle","date":"July 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Strange Brew (2009) edited by P.N. Elrod This is a re-read, and as such, I skipped the stories I didn't like or wasn't in the mood for. Seeing Eye by Patricia Briggs Last Call by Jim Butcher Death Warmed Over by Rachel Caine Vegas Odds by Karen Chance Hecate's Golden\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"Strange-Brew","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Strange-Brew.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1949,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1949","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":4},"title":"Dark and Stormy Knights","author":"Michelle","date":"September 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Dark and Stormy Knights (2010) edited by P.N. Elrod I can't help myself--I love anthologies. And fantasy anthologies with writers who write their fantasy with a healthy does of mystery? Sign me up! All anthologies have high and low points, but overall this was a fairly strong group of stories.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Dark-and-Stormy-Knights.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1519,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1519","url_meta":{"origin":324,"position":5},"title":"Dark Road Rising","author":"Michelle","date":"November 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Dark Road Rising (2009) P.N. Elrod Jack Flemming is in trouble. He's put his best friend and partner in the hospital, and the mobsters from New York won't leave him alone. Even worse, one of the mobsters is actually a vampire, and in a strange twist of fate, Jack is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Dark-Road-Rising.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}