Book: The Bloody Red Baron

The second book in Kim Newman's Anno Dracula series, The Bloody Red Baron, does not have quite the complexity or depth of the first book, nor does it have character development that extends quite so deeply. And I can't speak for everyone, but for me Kate Reed is not quite as interesting a character as Genevieve Dieudonne from the first novel.

That said, the story is pretty fun (think about Batman's nemesis "Man-Bat" and you have a rough idea where we're going here), the writing is still sharp, and the world continues to fascinate.

Of course, the real fun of Newman's novels are in picking out the cameos by both fictional and historic figures. In that sense The Bloody Red Baron does not disappoint, and I found my recent forays into silent movies continuing to pay off (Rotwang! From Metropolis!). Heck, even Snoopy made an appearance here, and I was thrown back to elementary school days practicing "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron" on the piano. Fond memories.

I will say that something about these books always feels a little off to me, but I can't tell if it's because I'm having so much fun playing spot-the-character that I skim over the plot a little too much, or if it's that Newman's world (with all the spycraft and plot devices) falls short on real characterization. Regardless, something's just a little off for me to really love these books.

Still, I can like them a lot without loving them, and I still plan to continue the series. It's still too much fun to ignore.

Grade: B-