Progeny Of The Adder!

Progeny of the Adder by Leslie H. Whitten from 1965 is often touted as a major influence on Jeff Rice's later project The Kolchak Papers which became the TV movie The Night Stalker. Some have even suggested Rice is guilty of plagiarism. Having never read the Whitten novel I have unable to render my opinion until now. The story is set in Washington DC, and we follow a dedicated police detective who doggedly pursues the murders of women, many of whom are prostitutes. It is to his credit that he applies the same dedication to the case even before it is revealed that one victim is actually connected to a foreign embassy. The pressure goes up as slowly the truth is revealed. The murderer acts like a vampire and before the story is over. we are led to believe he is in fact one. 

Change the setting to Las Vegas and given that brief summary a connection between Whitten's novel and Rice's seems evident. But the Whitten book is told very differently than the tale of the reporter Carl Kolchak. For one thing a significant aspect of the book is a budding romance between the detective and a female colleague who also ends up working the case. There is no sense that Kolchak even cares about romance. (He does get a girlfriend of sorts in the sequel The Night Strangler.) The subtext of a corrupt system fouling the search is really not evident in the Progeny of the Adder. There are frustrations but mostly the case seems to be pursued minus any significant political pressure. There is one scene concerning a used car salesman that seems remarkably similar, but truth told it was the only one. And the finale of Whitten's novel is completely different with a car chase dominating the action. 

So, I say nay! There are similarities in that we have two modern cities plagued by vampires, but that can be said of 1931's Dracula who turns up in a very modern London. I found Progeny of the Adder a fun read, but it was not as involving as Rice's novel for one simple reason, the singularly compelling character of Carl Kolchak was not present and that more than the vampire is what makes those stories resonate. 

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