

Title: Seven Drops of Blood
Author: Robert Weinberg
In: The Mammoth Book of Dark Magic (Mike Ashley)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Cops, Crime
Dates read: 12th January 2020
Pace: Slow
Format: Short story
Publisher: Robinson
Year: 1992
5th sentence, 74th page: According to ancient Hebrew tradition, Ashmedai reigned as king of demons.

He’s the resident psychic detective. His latest job? To track down the Holy Grail. What he discovers is nothing like what was expected.

This short story had a very noir detective feel to it. And, since it’s in a collection of Dark Magic short stories, I spent a very high proportion of it wondering where the dark magic actually was. That was kind of frustrating. Even once I found the “magical” aspect, it wasn’t anywhere near as intense as I was expecting and I kind of felt a little perplexed at its place in this anthology. But, it was still a thoroughly enjoyable story.
What I did love about this short story was that it featured the Holy Grail. It’s such an interesting topic, and one that I want more of in my reading. Actually, I think that I just want more of this noir detective feel in my reading in general.
This was a light, easy read. Not as dark and twisted as most of the other stories in this collection, and one that I seriously enjoyed reading. I was actually really disappointed when it was all over…
3 thoughts on “Seven Drops of Blood by Robert Weinberg”