Twelve

Kent's sprawling historical horror debut, the first of a quintet, brings blood-gushing brutality back to vampire fiction. As Napoleon's army nears Moscow in 1812, four Russian spies meet with a dozen uncanny marauders who agree to harass the French. By the time Aleksei realizes that the fiends are literally bloodthirsty, the 12 have begun feeding on Russian civilians. Aleksei instinctively despises the vampires, while his friend Dmitry insists they can be useful allies, and his mistress is tempted by endless youth. Aleksei's sometimes plodding self-examination doesn't impede densely detailed, hard-driving action as winter and the vampires drive the invaders from the ravaged city. The novel's earnest conviction saves it from being mere ghastly melodrama, and the vampires are genuinely scary villains, more vivid than most of the living characters. With no romantic yearning or teen angst in sight, this is just a bloody good tale. (Sept.)