“Left to the Night Alone” by Andrea Dean van Scoyoc

Soon to be released under the title, “Vampire Alone”

The storyline of “Left to the Night Alone” centers around Ivana Morriander. Ivana is undead. Note I did not call her a vampire, despite the new title her story is soon to be re-released under. I don’t personally see Ivana’s character as a vampire and after a brief online conversation with authoress I know she didn’t necessarily write her that way either, but apparently many other readers of the book did. The truth is expect for an aversion to sunlight there is absolutely nothing vampiric about Ivana and I’m frankly a little baffled by the insistence of other readers that she is. Personally, if I were forced to place a label upon Ivana’s existence it would be intellectual zombie… but I digress.

Mostly the book chronicles two parts of Ivana’s life, or afterlife as the case maybe. The major focus, or larger part, deals with a time right around the Great Depression when she was friends with a New York bar owner, Dante. Dante’s bar and the young bartender he employed, Luther, become very dear to Ivana. So dear in fact that she is found in the opening scene of the book sitting in the modern day incarnation of the bar and thinking back on her old friends. The second part of the book is about her tumultuous relationship to an eccentric artist named Ruben. In-between the back and forth between her past and present with Ruben and Dante some events and happenings of her longer, older history are reviled, but mostly the book is about these two era’s in her life and how they relate to and contradict from each other.

The characters of Dante and Luther are typical of what one would expect of people living during the time period. They are both at their core honest and good men who are focused to deal with the unpleasant nature life can take on from time to time. I have no trouble at all understand why Ivana would feel loss and longing for their friendship after their passing and why they would be difficult to replace.

Ruben on the other hand is a bit of an odd duck. He’s awkward and unsure of himself, but at the same time comes off arrogant and formal. The conversations between him and Ivana are full of phrases and lines that seem very non-organic to any sort of conversation taking place in the modern day. It feels as though he and to a lesser degree Ivana, when she is around him, are trying just a little too hard to be, for lack of a better word, Goth. Beyond that it’s difficult for me to put into words how much I loathed Ruben.

The tie in of the Dante’s and Ruben’s stories is important to the ending of the book. So, I will not give it away. But there is some math with the timelines of their stories that just doesn’t quite add up. For Dante’s mother and Ruben’s multiple great-grandfather to have known the same people and done all the things they claimed and for both stories to tie into Ivana’s past it would have required, in my figuring, for Dante’s mother to have been a couple hundred years old when she had him. But that aside it was an enjoyable and imaginative story. I truly had a hard time putting it down once I started reading it.

Overall, I’d say I would suggest this one to anyone who likes undead characters who are full of moral fiber and emotional complexity. On the other hand, I’d advise anyone who likes blood and gore covered zombies or vamps to perhaps give this one a pass, because while there are some gruesome scenes that’s not what this book is about. That’s not what Ivana is about.

Nice review, I might give it a go if I ever see it about.

Since I know you're a fan of Clive Barker, I'd suggest to you start with another of her books I've read and reviewed here.

I will warn you before you look, you'll only find Andrea's work through online book sources; amazon.com, I believe now the Barnes and Nobles site, and lulu.com. You see, she's one of those kooky people who prefers self-publishing. (I don't personally consider her all that kooky, but most aspiring writers dreaming of landing a big book deal might.)