Strange Horizons, May 8, 2017

Le lundi de la matraque (Nightstick Monday) by Claire Humphrey

Reviewed by Alexandros Zochios

A vampire called Gus narrates her part in the 1968 Saint Jean Baptiste Day parade riot in Montreal. She is assisting the resistance and falls in love with one of the rioters. Their bombings are starting to result in casualties, which is something that she is against.

Claire Humphrey has added a twist in the usual vampire trope. We see an ethical vampire with high standards and principles. She also enjoys the company of mortals and can fall in love with one of them. However, there is one part that is inconsistent and contradicts her personality. Although she states that she is experienced and is aware when she is manipulated, she doesn’t seem to get suspicious where certain actions of her comrades are concerned, though perhaps this can be justified because she is dazzled by Marguerite. I didn’t know any details about the riots and what were they about so if there were a few words about their background in the story it would have helped me to identify more with the characters. However, the dialogue seemed natural and the imagery of the fight was very vivid.