NIGHT WHISPERS

by Charles Veley ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 27, 1980

Coma meets the Vampire--in an erratic, flimsy melodrama that's heavy on blood and medical nitty-gritty. Dr. Judith Weston, whose specialty is obstetrical surgery (she's developed a new mode for clearing the fallopian tubes and facilitating pregnancy), is not only run-down from overwork but also has begun hearing voices in her office and her apartment. Her lover Philip, an oral surgeon, suggests she try a new pill that he's been taking, but she resists. Actually, Judith's voices come from some secretly planted microphones; she's being purposely drained of energy so that she will agree to join Philip's medical conspiracy--a bunch of vampire-amnesiacs called The Gathering that wants to build up a bank of endomorphins separated from the stolen blood of patients in Judith's hospital. (The Leader of the Gathering has devised a special power mix of endomorphins, brain proteins, and cocaine--crystallized into The Pill and taken daily for endless energy.) Will Judith join the monthly orgies of The Gathering? Will she too receive shots of scopolamine that wipe out memory of The Gathering's darkest doings? Unfortunately, by the time those questions are resolved, the so-so plottings here have lapsed further, into conventional melodramatic knife-and-gun stuff. And, throughout, the motivation of the Evil Leader is tenuous at best. (Instead of all those elaborate, dangerous, expensive schemes, he could just buy the blood!) Lots of glittering needles to scare those so disposed--but overall a tacky hybrid that never comes even halfway up to Coma level.

Pub Date: June 27, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION