Serpent’s Tooth by Toni V. Sweeney

Serpent’s Tooth
by Toni V. Sweeney
Published by Class Act Books, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-935048-55-8
and 978-1-935048-55-4
eBook and Print
335 pages
Romance and Horror

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The year is 2009. Melissa Powers, a forty-something Librarian from the Southern U.S., is on a cruise to help her recover from the recent loss of her mother. On the first day of her vacation, an enigmatic and gorgeous man begins to follow Melissa around the ship. She’s not sure how to take such obvious interest, but its not long before choice is taken away from Melissa.

Meet Travis Brandt, a man full of secrets, including the fact that he’s attracted to Melissa because she reminds him of his former wife. The reader wants to like Travis, especially as he quickly wins Melissa’s heart with his potent charisma. But it’s not just secrets with this man; there are also many lies.

Melissa is as bright as she is beautiful and immediately begins to unravel the enigma Travis represents. Her first discovery? Travis Brandt is none other than the man known as Hildebrant, a movie and singing star who disappeared 20 years ago and has been legally declared dead. The man owned the box office, and his band Serpent’s Tooth was sitting atop the world of music, but he just walked away from it all.

A former fan of Hildebrant and head over heels in love with Travis, Melissa spends the entire cruise with him, then after an agreed upon waiting period of about 3 months she marries the mysterious fellow. Whisked away to an isolated ranch in Nebraska, Melissa struggles to adapt to a completely alien lifestyle. She also continues to catch Travis in lies… He doesn’t want children, but he loves being around them. He has a strange scar on one hand that he explains away in yet another lie. He doesn’t tell Melissa he has an adult, adopted child until after they are married.

Yet the man obviously adores his new wife. We also want to be happy for Melissa, but the reader is made more and more aware of Travis’ dark past through an ongoing series of flashbacks that reveal the evil of his life, just as Melissa, herself, moves closer and closer to the truth.

Finally, all is revealed to both the reader and Melissa. We struggle to understand what Travis has done and what the cost may be to Melissa and her—surprise!—newly expected baby. Surely, Travis, Melissa and their child will be able to overcome the terrible secret hidden in Hildebrant’s past. Or is that just wishful thinking?

Serpent’s Tooth is an interesting mix of romance and horror. The slow and steady build-up to the terrifying conclusion of the book is a daring experiment and quite typical of Toni V. Sweeney. She’s an author who doesn’t seem afraid of anything. Every book and short story I’ve read by this author is so different from what has come before, you just can’t say this is a writer of romance or horror or even humour. It’s harder yet to determine her specific voice. This says a lot for Sweeney’s talent and her approach to writing. I fully expect bigger and better works to come.

The only thing I can criticize is there seemed to be some typographic issues with the text (for example: “putting on the black lacpe eignoir lying on a nearby chair”). Nothing serious, nor did it mar my reading experience. I mention it only because the problem is easy to spot and, thus, should have been caught during proofing.

To conclude: the more I read Toni V. Sweeney, the more I like her work. This is an author who is learning and developing at a speedy rate. Try Serpent’s Tooth. It’s unique and, I think, worth reading: it will surely make romance enthusiasts uncomfortable, and it will show horror fans that slice and dice just doesn’t stand up to understated and/or realistic horror.

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2010