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Another forgotten classic resurrected by Valancourt!
This book undoubtedly served as the "Inspiration" for Jeff Rice's novel THE KOLCHAK PAPERS, and did something amazing: Brought the Vampire story into the modern world. Thanks to Stephen King, Anne Rice, and others, we're used to that idea, but in 1965, it must have been revolutionary.
Whitten's story reads as a kind of DRAGNET meets DRACULA (DRACNET?) in its mixture of police procedural and Horror story. The protagonist is a by-the-book young D.C Detective trying to solve a string of gruesome murders targeting prostitutes (Or "Whores", as this very un-PC book calls them), and we're over halfway through the book before it takes a turn towards the horrific and supernatural. But when it does, oh boy! I had a blast reading this book (I plowed through it in just a few days), and Whitten does a great job of ratcheting up the tension until the climax, which he sets in a very unusual place.
PROGENY OF THE ADDER is a dated book, to be sure. The sexist and racist slang is almost funny in this day and age, but the limits and hurdles that investigators faced in the pre-cell phone and computer era made for some fascinating reading. I especially enjoyed the main character's love interest- The Austrian widow of another Detective, who somehow inherited her dead husband's job on the D.C. police force.
Not the best Vampire book I've ever read, but a quick, fun, engrossing mystery. Recommended to Kolchak fans, for sure.
Posted : July 1, 2026 5:54 pm
Agreed -- it's a fun read, warts and all. Leisure did a modern reprint of it before Valancourt, a double-volume with MOON OF THE WOLF, which is also fairly good. They did a second one featuring FANGS OF THE MORNING and THE ALCHEMIST, both of which are probably safely skipped. I had a 1st HC of PROGENY OF THE ADDER that had a long inscription from him to someone whose name I can no longer recall, and I was so disappointed every time I saw its very beat-up dustjacket that I sold it on eBay...just another dumb move made in my forty years of book collecting.
Posted : July 1, 2026 11:09 pm
Topic starter
Agreed -- it's a fun read, warts and all. Leisure did a modern reprint of it before Valancourt, a double-volume with MOON OF THE WOLF, which is also fairly good. They did a second one featuring FANGS OF THE MORNING and THE ALCHEMIST, both of which are probably safely skipped. I had a 1st HC of PROGENY OF THE ADDER that had a long inscription from him to someone whose name I can no longer recall, and I was so disappointed every time I saw its very beat-up dustjacket that I sold it on eBay...just another dumb move made in my forty years of book collecting.
I just KNEW that you had read this book, Ron!
ADDER didn't make me want to read his whole backlist, but I'm a sucker for a good Werewolf tale, so I'll probably track down MOON OF THE WOLF.
That inscription sounds pretty cool!
Posted : July 2, 2026 2:21 pm
This sounds like a fun read. I'll need to add to the "want list." Thanks for the head's up!
Posted : July 2, 2026 7:21 pm
dannyboy121070 reacted
Topic starter
This sounds like a fun read. I'll need to add to the "want list." Thanks for the head's up!
The e-book is on sale this week, if you like that kind of thing. (I do, lol!) $2.99. It's a quick, fun read, and I loved the ending. As always, let me know what you think if you decide to give it a try.
Posted : July 2, 2026 7:30 pm