This book was gothic horror at its best. Short, but full of dread and pain and revenge. Johann is the main character, and you follow this villain from one murderous deed to the next. Often times wondering how you can possibly feel sympathy for a being with no conscience. He is brash, he is methodic, his life started horrific and he embraced the terror and molded it to his will. This story felt a little like a Dickens novel, if Dickens morose books had more gore, more evil, more death and decay. Because, you do follow Johann from the alleys and gutters of the city, a poor street urchin, up the ranks to the rich and the powerful. As he integrates into the world of those who have the finest things and little regard for how they get them. They fascinate and enthrall Johann, and make him lust for their destruction. Florian is seemingly Johann's opposite. Angelic in nature and looks, kind, reassuring, prosperous. But, as the novel unfolds Florian's history begins to unravel as well. Johann is inextricably linked to Florian, as he yearns for this beautiful, ethereal man. What is the connection, why does he not want to murder him, what does Florian want his indestructible blood for? Why does Florian not crave Johann the way that Johann craves him? This is very much a novel of revenge, centered around two young men with tragic pasts. One wishes he could change things, the other revels in the debauchery. On the periphery is a plague, a hunter of sorcery, and Johann's visions of a bloated corpse at sea. A good mix of mystery, fantasy, historical fiction, horror, and gothic suspense. A strange novella where you follow the devil through the shadows of a dying city. Just one thing really bothered me, I wanted so much more.
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