Review: A Dozen Black Roses (revised edition) by Nancy A. Collins

Biting Dog Publications, 2011
ASIN: B006BADP3M
Available: Kindle ebook

A Dozen Black Roses was first published as a tie-in novel in the universe of the White Wolf role playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, with Nancy Collins’ established vampire heroine, Sonja Blue (who first appeared in Sunglasses After Dark), as a character. Part of my initial love for the original book was that it came out when I was involved in live action role playing, so I gleefully imagined some of the characters I had to deal with in the game getting into a showdown with Sonja Blue. Now Biting Dog has released a White Wolf-free version of A Dozen Black Roses, which makes it less like a shoe-horned effort to keep a star author like Collins writing while also pushing White Wolf role playing games, and more like an actual Sonja Blue novel. This revised edition is an opportunity to read the book as it should have been, without rules and dice and power gamers.

Collins’ vampire hunting vampire, Sonja Blue, was one of my first loves in horror (although now the books might be considered urban fantasy). She’s a unique character, from her creation story, to her split personality, to her punk rock attitude. Collins is known for her loving descriptions of ultraviolence, and easily keeps up in a genre that seems to be boy territory. In fact, Sonja shaking up the old boy’s network is a key theme in this book, making it all the more fun.

In A Dozen Black Roses, Sonja faces down the two vampire lords of Deadtown, vicious vampires who barely even notice humans, except as pawns in their quest for power and personal indulgence. Though she’s not exactly a superhero, she’s definitely the “good guy” come to make the other vampires pay.
Highly recommended for public and private collections.

Contains: violence, language, drug use, rape