Baltimore residents are all tuning in to WVMP. Not because of its fabulously eclectic range of music, but because of its hot, highly-publicized new gimmick: its DJs are all vampires, playing the music that was hot when they were mortal. ’40s blues, ’50s rockabilly, ’60s psychedelic rock, ’70s reggae, ’80s punk/Goth, and ’90s Generation X/grunge, all represented by bloodsucking creatures of the night. It’s a hell of an attention-getter, and the public eats it up with a spoon, keeping WVMP independent when the soul-crushing conglomerates are on the prowl for more stations to play their conformist crap. But it’s all just a gimmick … right?

Wrong. WVMP’s new marketing manager, ex-con artist Ciara Griffin, has gone Purloined Letter, relying on the public’s disbelief in the supernatural to hide her vampire allies in plain sight. So far, so good. The station’s doing fine, she’s taking business classes, and she’s even settling into a relationship with Shane, the ’90s-era DJ. Not bad for a girl who used to fear commitment, and always plan for a quick escape.

Unfortunately, not everything is copasetic. Religious nutjobs have erected a pirate radio transmitter of their own, solely to interfere with WVMP’s broadcasting, replacing ’80s vamp Regina’s show with Bible-thumping fire and brimstone. A reporter for Rolling Stone is looking for the perfect story, and he’s getting too close to the WVMP vampires for Ciara’s comfort. A vampire dog of unknown origin has adopted Ciara, and her landlord is anti-pets – who knows how he’ll feel about a dog that knocks down doors when it’s time for walkies? Oh, and an anti-vampire cult may be behind some of the above problems. Poor Ciara. Can she protect her vampire friends from discovery, keep the station on the air, maintain her romance with Shane, keep her blood in her veins where it belongs, and still keep her grades up? Here’s a hint:

“November 12. I get my ethics midterm back: an F+. My complete lack of morals is now on my permanent record.”

Once again, Jeri Smith-Ready really knows how to rock and roll, with her clever take on the vampire mythos. The idea that they’re mentally tied to the era in which they were originally alive, and the radio station allows these vampires to keep their sanity and stability, while hiding in plain sight? Awesome. You can’t ask for a better nighttime job than that of graveyard shift disc jockey. Letting a “reformed” con artist handle the station’s marketing and business affairs, and giving her free rein to pursue whatever wacky ideas will keep them afloat? More awesome. Dexter the giant, lovable vampire dog? Oh yeah. The set-up and execution lend themselves well to an entertaining, fast-paced, toothsome tale wrapped around an eclectic playlist of six decades’ worth of hot music.

It’s a measure of my fondness for, and my belief in, Ciara that I actually believe she’d have done just as well without the mysterious anti-holy vampire-healing qualities of her blood. She’s a great character, quick-witted and resourceful and clever, and she doesn’t need that little ‘extra’ to make her otherwise special. Now admittedly, those anti-holy qualities are a major plot point in several parts of the story, but part of me wishes she’d stayed normal. Well, as normal as a con artist-turned-college student-turned-marketing manager dating a grunge rock vampire gets.

That objection aside, and really, it’s a hollow one at best, I don’t have any real complaints. Smith-Ready has found her unique interpretation of a world where vampires exist in secret, where equally shadowy organizations work to either control/manage/protect or destroy/exploit them, and where music can save the day, and it works for me. So fire up your favorite playlist (or use Smith-Ready’s suggested playlist instead), kick back, and enjoy Bad to the Bone.

Tags: Green Man Review

As usual, Cat Crawford has problems. Her mother disapproves of her vampire lover, Bones. Her father is an evil scumbag who deserves a long, slow, painful death. Her identity has been exposed to the vampires she hunts for the government, and now they’re hunting her in return. And most annoying of all, Bones has gotten himself involved in some heavy-duty vampire politics, with Cat at his side, and things are about to get monumentally, memorably messy. Is Cat about to suffer a tragedy even she can’t recover from?

There’s a traitor amongst her circle of friends and allies, and if she can’t figure out who’s selling her down the river, there’ll be Hell to pay. But is it Vlad, the charming basis for the most infamous vampire novel of all time, or Doc, who made a name for himself in the Old West, or Annette, who used to care for Bones in her own way? Or is it Tate, the soldier-turned-vampire, who’s never made a secret of his hatred for Bones? There’s no shortage of suspects, and time is running out, even as an ancient vampire plans bloody vengeance. . . .

At Grave’s End continues the adventures of Cat Crawford, half-vampire who hunts renegade bloodsuckers, and Bones, the full vampire who won her heart and taught her how to embrace her nature. As their romance thrives and blazes, they have to deal with all sorts of threats, leading to a nonstop series of action-packed incidents. We get to see even more of the vampire world and its politics here, and it’s never dull. Jeaniene Frost tosses in a few amusing cameos, historical figures turned immortal creatures of the night, and it adds some nice additional color to the atmosphere. As always, the action scenes are dynamic and easy to visualize, and the physical moments between Cat and Bones practically sizzle with passion.

This is a series that never fails to engage and entertain, and At Grave’s End is another treat for those who like vampire-centric urban fantasy. And once again, I have to give a special mention to the gorgeous, eye-catching cover by Thomas Egner, which tells a story in its own right.

Tags: Green Man Review

Ciara Griffin spent most of her life as a con artist, helping herself to other peoples’ money, until her work started to eat away at her conscience. After one last big score, she retired from that life, and went back to school. Now, as she tries to lead a life on the straight and narrow, she applies for an intership at WVMP, a quirky little radio station whose late-night DJs each specialize in a different musical era: ’40s blues, ’60s rock, ’80s goth and ’00s grunge. Ciara’s certainly dubious about her long-term prospects in the mkarketing department of the station, especially once she’s met the DJs in question. A stranger, flakier, more unlikely bunch of coworkers she could never have imagined. Especially once she’s forcibly introduced to the true nature of WVMP: it’s essentially a work-study program for vampires, keeping them from losing their connection to the world around them. But a job’s a job, and Ciara rises to the challenge after some initial doubts. And when she learns that the station’s in danger of being sold, which would put her new friends (can a human -be- friends with vampires?) at risk, she convinces them to adopt a bold new format, outting them as vampires to the world (and passing it all off as an elaborate gimmick…)

Unfortunately, there are some older, more traditional vampires who object, most strenuously, to this breach in tradition and potential unwanted publicity, just as there are some humans willing to sharpen their stakes ‘just in case’ and before Ciara knows it, she’s up to her neck in a vampiric power struggle, and things definitely aren’t helped by her growing attraction to her grunge-rock DJ coworker, Shane, who wants to convince her that vampires and humans can be -more- than friends. To save the station and her own skin, Ciara’s going to have to call upon every ounce of con artist in her soul, and pull off one hell of a grift. Danny Ocean’s got nothing on this girl.

Wicked Game is clever, funny, creative, and way too much fun. Jeri Smith-Ready plays with a concept I always thought would work well with vampires, setting them up as nighttime radio DJs whose familiarity with the material comes from actual experience, and she does it well, throwing in a nice mixture of musical styles and character personalities. Honestly, this is a book I wish I’d written, so I’m glad someone went ahead and did it. Smith-Ready’s treatment of vampires is slightly skewed from the average depiction; in her world, vampires need to find a balance between the time period in which they were alive, and the modern era, lest they become disconnected and unable to function. Moreover, they’re essentially locked in to their “Life Time,” unable to easily change or grow or learn new things as time marches on without them. This imbues this particular breed of vampire with a unique and satisfying vulnerability, which makes for some interesting complications in their society. She also plays with the nature of codependency between vampires and humans, showing various ways in which they each get what they want, be it sex, money, protection, or dinner (you guess which is which…) Maybe it’s not -all- entirely original, since there’s only so much variation possible, but it’s explored nicely here.

Ciara’s a fun character in her own right, a natural con artist who’s always looking for that extra angle to exploit, and that back door to escape through. She’s pragmatic, and naturally skeptical at first when things get weird, reacting like any normal person would, but when the chips are down, she really shines. In fact, it’s safe to say she’s got some massive reserves of confidence to draw upon, and an amazing amount of chutzpah, given some of the plans she comes up with. It’ll be interesting to see what she does next, after what she pulls off in this book.
Wicked Game is a sure-fire winner in my opinion, and the sequel will be one of my must-reads.

Tags: Green Man Review

Four years after faking her death in order to go work for the government as part of a new secret team dedicated to hunting rogue vampires, half-vampire Cat Crawfield has almost, but not quite, managed to put the spectre of her ex-lover and former mentor (and full vampire) Bones behind her. In fact, she’s managed to put most of her past behind her as well, moving on with her life. She has a crack team backing her up, the legend of the Red Reaper making many vampires lock their coffins at night, and she’s even considering the idea of dating again. And then someone starts targeting her, leaving taunting clues that make it quite clear that they know who and where she is. It seems that not only has someone put a bounty out on her head, but someone from her past may have sold her out. Is it Bones, toying with her in revenge for the way she ditched him, or something far worse?

The truth is, there’s a lot more going on than Cat expected, and the only one she -can- trust is Bones, who shows up unexpectedly, slipping right back into her life and her heart and driving her crazy. Now she has to choose between the handsome mortal veterinarian she’d been dating, and the vampire who sets her senses on fire. Of course, her team might think she was consorting with the enemy, and her mother would have a heart attack if she knew her daughter was once again spending time with a vampire… Bones’ involvement goes far beyond simply winning Cat back into his arms. He’s got an old score to settle with the vampire who sired him long ago, and a complicated plan to get that bounty off Cat’s head, and it’ll take some quick thinking and heavy action to pull it off. In the process, Cat will learn some painful truths about her family, which may cause her to reconsider her line of work, and her motivation. Luckily, Bones is there to give her all the encouragement she needs, if she can just keep Bones and her team from hurting one another to badly…

When I covered Halfway to the Grave, I saluted Jeaniene Frost for the way she was willing to shake up the status quo at the end of the book. Here, we see just what a shakeup it was, with a four year jump in the timeline, giving our heroes time to change and gain more experience, and discover just how much they really mean to one another. Cat’s thoroughly established herself as the leader of a secret government team, and Bones, well, he’s been taking care of business in his own way. Frost took something of a gamble, letting such a length of time pass between books, and luckily, it pays off quite nicely indeed. Cat’s confident, strong, fierce, and a leader in her own right, able to face Bones as an equal, as opposed to the mentor/student relationship they had when they first met. The emotional connections between the two would-be lovers is stronger than ever, with sparks flying at every turn, and when they get physical, it just about sets the page on fire. Apparently, the elapsed time, and Cat’s change of professions was good for them both.

The plot itself keeps moving at a breakneck pace, as they deal with one crisis after another, delving deeper into the murky world of the undead as they go. We learn a lot more about the power structure of the vampire society, as Bones puts a plan into motion that requires a pretty hefty commitment from Cat, as well as a major load of trust on everyone’s part. All I can say is that things will be even more interesting when the next book comes out, since once again, Frost throws some twists into the mix.

There’s a lot to love about this series. The heroine is strong and sympathetic, a vampire slayer that would give Buffy a run for her money, and Bones is ten times cooler than most of the whiny, brooding vampires one expects to see these days. Together, they’re an irreverent, asskicking couple to set fear into the hearts of their targets. (And one scene late in the book, where Bones reveals just why and how he convinced Cat to make a very unusual choice with regards to her choice of outfit while hunting, is laugh-out-loud hilarious. The sheer audacity of the man is beyond belief. Of course Cat’s just as bad in her own way, when she demonstrates a unique ability to grab a vampire’s attention in a club.) The action scenes are sharply-described, easy to visualize, and seem tailor-made for the big screen; this is one book that seems perfect for television. There’s action, humor, romance, intrigue, and of course a little bit of red-hot sex to really spice things up. In other words, it’s my idea of an excellent urban fantasy/paranormal romance, and an example of how to do vampires right.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the cover. Like the one for Halfway to the Grave, it’s a striking, gorgeous piece of art, leaping out at the viewer and catching the eye. I’ve seen a lot of covers I really liked, but very few that are so captivating. Tom Egner (or so my research tells me) has done a masterful job with the covers for this series. This goes on a very short list of ones I’d get as prints if I had the opportunity.

If you want good vampire urban fantasy, with a strong, kickass heroine, then One Foot In The Grave is definitely one I’d reccomend without hesitation. Frost is clearly on a role with this series, and I hope she keeps it up.

Tags: Green Man Review

Francesca Marinelli is one of the best ghost tour guides in St. Augustine, Florida, able to relate spooky stories about her surroundings and the spirits that haunt them like no other. Of course, in her case, she has an advantage: she’s a vampire, born two hundred years ago and only recently unearthed from her underground prison. Holding a job is just part of her acclimatization to the modern world. It could be worse, she’s just happy to be walking the streets in person, rather than experiencing events through her psychic abilities while her body lies trapped in a coffin, her fate for so many years.

Her quiet, well-adjusted life is thrown into shambles when a body turns up, the victim someone who’d just been in one of her tour groups. Next thing Francesca knows, she has rabid anti-vampire vigilantes on her tail, as well as some very suspicious cops. She’s also got vampire groupies eager for a little taste of the night life, a pack of gun-toting middle-aged housewives both helping and hindering her, and a preternatural crimes special investigator who sets Francesa’s libido on fire with a single glare. Can they find the true murderer before he strikes again, even closer to home?

La Vida Vampire’s a quirky, charming tale, with a heroine who manages to defy a great many vampire conventions. She surfs, shops at Walmart, is none too fond of the smell of blood, and rejects the image of vampires as sultry night-time creatures. She’s got a modern sensibility but retains enough dignity to be far more interesting than the chick-lit protagonist she could have devolved into easily. Nancy Haddock’s clearly found enough of a twist on the vampire mythos to let this particular take stick out. The mystery at the heart of the story is clever enough to keep things moving, without dragging things along, and it has a few surprises in store for the reader. One part paranormal romance, one part supernatural mystery, La Vida Vampire is an entertaining read, and I’ll be sure to pick up more by Nancy Haddock in the future.

Tags: Green Man Review