A street poetess of pain and rage, Nancy A. Collins has cast an undeniable shadow across the tradition of dark and fantastic fiction.”— Cemetery Dance Magazine Collins has also written a number of highly acclaimed Southern Gothic short stories and novellas, most of which are set in Seven Devils, Arkansas, a highly fictionalized version of her hometown. Collins . . . chronicles excess with an almost elegant stylistic restraint . . . Sunglasses After Darkis replete with eroticism and violence, movement and color.”—Locus

To sum up, when it's good, it's very, very good, when it's bad - which is more often than not - it's utterly dreadful. I really enjoyed it, but I'd be cautious recommending Sunglasses After Dark to others. It's brutally gory and violent, and in particular rape comes up again and again, men on women and also women on men; I winced a lot. Some of those scenes are quite graphic, and some of them involve mind control (vampires and psychics abound). This would all have been hard to read from a male perspective and I think it would have felt different from a male author. But knowing a woman wrote it, and seeing precisely how Nancy Collins handled these scenes (mostly from a female perspective and if not with female agency centered), they felt like honest explorations of very dark fantasies. The premise is Sonja Blue is the adopted persona of a young heiress who disappeared a couple of decades prior. Imprisoned inside a metal hospital, but only recently, she has a fascinating history the reader slowly discovers. Sonja is a "living" vampire who has managed to maintain most of her humanity upon her traumatic transition from rebellious teenage girl to vampire. Forced to work as a prostitute, eventually becoming a hunter of her own kind, Sonja must cope with the traumatic physical as well as psychological changes that have turned her from Denise Thorne to Sonja Blue. A vampire who struggles with a personified embodiment of psychopathia and hunger called "The Other" (who may be a demon or may be not).Honestly, I gave this 3 stars because I didn't hate it and I can see how many people would enjoy the book. Collins is incredibly descriptive and there is nothing wrong with the story. I know intellectually that this is far more likely to be the behavior of someone who drinks human blood. However, it just really wasn't my cup of tea...or bottle of True Blood, be that as it may. Maybe I will prove myself wrong but I don't think I will finish the series. While I can see why it is a well written book, I frankly didn't like it.

Content warnings: gore, more gore, rape, sexual violence, abuse, emotional abuse, and animal death. This book is not for the faint-hearted. Originally published in 1989, I read it some years later and remember enjoying it so was looking forward to this re-read. When heiress Denise Thorne disappears in 1969 London, no trace of her is ever found because she was abducted by a master vampire and became Sonja Blue, a “tough-as-nails punk vampire/vampire-slayer”. The story follows her learning her skills and working her way across Europe, wiping out vampires as she searches for the man who converted her and the sleazy televangelist - Catherine Wheele - who has been exploiting Denise’s parents.

This is such a trashy book but I had a really good time with it. I found a copy in a used bookstore with a very 80s cover that I just love. I was afraid at the beginning that it was going to center too much around Claude, the big hulking man that Sonja ends up protecting, but this is very much Sonja's book. Nancy Collins’ bone-colored, blood-smeared star—for she is certainly a star—stands bright and hot at the pinnacle of the horror heap.”—Joe R. Lansdale, author of Bubba Ho-Tep If there is such a things as a splatterpunk masterpiece, Nancy A. Collins has written it.”—Asimov’s Science Fiction

Sonja could have been a very sad character. I honestly believe she could have been written in such a way that my heart would have ached for all that she had lost and what she had become. Likewise, I think I could have liked her. She tries to not be the personification of evil. I can liken her a bit to Dexter Morgan in that she thinks she feels nothing but she clearly does. And what happened to her is so very very sad. Collins was born in McGehee, Arkansas, United States. She lived in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1980s; after time in New York City and Atlanta, Georgia she settled in Wilmington, North Carolina in the late 2000s. The positives (when they were present). A high level of inventiveness, and excellent visuals for scenes, characters and action. Sonja is a tragic figure. Memories of who she was before she was turned into a vampire plague her and drive her to the edge of madness. Make no mistake though, when push comes to shove, Sonja reacts in true vampire style.Fantastic vampire novel with not a sparkle in sight. Looking forward to reading the rest of the Sonja Blue series. Nancy A. Collins (born 10 September 1959) is a United States horror fiction writer best known for her series of vampire novels featuring her character Sonja Blue. Collins has also written for comic books, including the Swamp Thing series, Jason Vs. Leatherface, Predator: Hell Come A Walkin and her own one-shot Dhampire: Stillborn.