Finished Fr 12/6/19
This is one of my ancient paperbacks and although there is no notation that I'd read it, I'm sure that I have. I also remember the fantastic movie, directed by Tony Scott, starring Catherine Deneuve, Susan Sarandon, and David Bowie.
From an internet article about the 1983 film:
"John (David Bowie) is the lover of the gorgeous immortal vampire Miriam (Catherine Deneuve), and he's been led to believe that he'll live forever, too. Unfortunately, he quickly deteriorates into a horrible living death, and Miriam seeks a new companion. She soon sets her sights on Sarah (Susan Sarandon), a lovely young scientist, who quickly falls under Miriam's spell. However, Sarah doesn't warm up to the concept of vampirism easily, leading to conflict with Miriam".
Miriam is a vampire that is a 'mirror species' to humankind. She was born somewhat before the Egyptian empire. She has 'infected' numerous human to become her companions over the ages and keeps their remains in sealed contains. She vows to 'love them until the end of time'.
John is her latest companion and he was 'chosen' about three hundred years ago. He is physically deteriorating and he needs to feed on human blood far to frequently to continue to remain hidden among humankind.
The vampires to not have elongated canine teeth, but Miriam uses a scalpel and needles to transfer the blood.
Miriam contacts Sarah who is a biologist specializing in Gerontology. Miriam will reveal scientific evidence about her non-human condition in hopes of learning a possible cure for John.
This doesn't come to pass, but Miriam finds that Sarah would become an excellent selection as her next companion 'through the ages'.
From the book's page at Amazon:
"Eternal youth is a wonderful thing for the few who have it, but for Miriam Blaylock, it is a curse -- an existence marred by death and sorrow. Because for the everlasting Miriam, everyone she loves withers and dies. Now, haunted by signs of her adoring husband's imminent demise, Miriam sets out in search of a new partner, one who can quench her thirst for love and withstand the test of time. She finds it in the beautiful Sarah Roberts, a brilliant young scientist who may hold the secret to immortality. But one thing stands between the intoxicating Miriam Blaylock and the object of her desire: Dr. Tom Haver...and he's about to realize that love and death to hand in hand".
I remember reading the book the first time and I was taken by a kind of soap that Miriam uses. It is a very flowery scent and was used in mortuaries to prevent guests from smelling the corpses when they were laid out for public viewing: BREHMER AND CROSS (to the trades).
I really loved the novel and it is strikingly different from the usual depiction of vampires. I liked the 'scientific' aspect of the vampires as a natural phenomenon. Vampires are just a different evolutionary path from human's simian ancestors.
Whitley Strieber is a controversial author and this is a link to his page on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitley_Strieber
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