They Thirst

This is my first Robert McCammon book. It's a long read with a slow buildup, many chapters and stacks of different characters.

There are terrific personality studies, a gradual plot buildup and some bombastic unrealism by the end. It's over the top, cliché and dare I say it, even a bit corny. You won't learn anything new about vampires through this book either.

Although the slow buildup and constant switches between characters feel like weaknesses, they're the overall strength of the book. Police investigations are just a small part of it. The character called the Roach - a mass murderer who abducts prostitutes for his own nefarious purposes - is important but just a single character and subplot arc. There's unspoken competition between the police force and the local gutter press, for example, which is more to do with character development than essential plot.

The book shifts from murder investigation into a widespread vampire threat to rule the whole planet. Although this is an exciting switch, it also makes the book a bit outlandish.

Gradually we accept that vampires are really out there and need to be eradicated, which is the real driving stake in the heart of They Thirst. It takes amazing storytelling skill to hold all of this together. This is no crime thriller but a story about a city, people, loves and lives, and how the vampire menace gets gradually stronger and takes front stage.

What I didn't expect was how gloriously silly it would be by the end, turning into a stupendously far-fetched story about discovery, survival, and hitting back against the vampire masses.

There are parallels to other works of vampire fiction, such as I Am Legend and how the vampire scourge becomes an impossibly difficult challenge, as well as obvious references to Dracula in his castle and the hunt to eliminate evil and put him out of commission.

There are many interesting references to what vampires can and can't do and the precautions needed against them. They can drink the blood of the dead, while in other literature that's not an option and human victims must be alive or the blood drained from them first. Also, crucifixes and holy water work against vampires in They Thirst, but established in other literature that these artefacts have no effect because vampires are not necessarily linked to Christianity. Plus typical use of wooden stakes, garlic smeared across windowsills, holy water chucked in faces, and so on.

This is a terrific book considering it was first published in 1980, but offers nothing new on how to deal with vampires. Expose them to light, cut off their heads and pierce their hearts. They come out at night and wreak havoc on humanity, but during the day have to sleep in coffins partially filled with special soil.

During the day the tables turn and humans can hunt back, but the plot devises a giant vampire-controlled sandstorm to inhibit humans from hitting out during daylight hours, making the vampire menace even stronger and harder to eradicate.

They Thirst feels a bit old fashioned in places with references to actors and personalities from the 1970s, which are mostly irrelevant and meaningless to younger readers and feel rather dowdy and archaic especially in that period of pre-technology dawn, typewriters, fax machines and analog physicality. But it's forgivable.

Farfetched, silly and outlandish, They Thirst justifies the slow character-driven plot as necessary and meaningful to fiddle with the flagstones of improbability.

This is a really good effort and full of interestingly warm characters folded around a menace that gets impossibly strong over time. Good vs Evil 100%.