From Publishers Weekly
The ninth entry in Elrod's Vampire Files series offers clever characterization, wicked wit and palatable mayhem, played out on the chilly streets of 1938 Chicago (nicely evoked in Steve Stone's dark, wintry dust jacket art), six months after the action in Lady Crymsyn (2000). Vampire gumshoe Jack Fleming and his intrepid English partner, Escott, successfully rescue a kidnap victim, but find their heroics spoiled when it looks like the head kidnapper will get away with his nefarious deed. While bringing their socialite-psycho villain to justice, they also manage to become embroiled in a challenge to their gangster pal Gordy Weems's turf and to straighten out a love quadrangle involving Gordy, his radio actress girlfriend, Adelle Taylor, and her ex-husband and his new wife, Faustine Petrova, an exotic Russian ballerina with an accent thick enough to spread with caviar. Meanwhile, there's Jack's nightclub, the Lady Crymsyn, to run, with help from perky Bobbi Smythe, Jack's chanteuse girlfriend, and Myrna, the Crymsyn's resident ghost. Jack's powers of super-hypnosis and dematerialization are taxed beyond even his supernatural limits, and the latest audio technology, mob politics and a meat-house torture scene worthy of Wes Craven come into the picture before this entertaining detective romp is over. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Elrod, well-known in the vampire-fiction subgenre for the likes of His Father's Son (2001) and Lady Crymsyn (2000), adds another case to her Vampire Files series. Vampire hero Jack Fleming and his human partner, Charles Escott, are trying to save a kidnapped girl before the men who took her get the money they want and kill her. Jack manages the rescue in the nick of time, but things get a lot more complicated when one of the kidnappers, Gilbert Dugan, figures out that Jack is a vampire. Dugan decides to blackmail Jack to escape being charged for the kidnapping. Despite the fact that he stands to lose everything, Jack knows that he can't let Dugan go unpunished. Throw in a little trouble with the mob, and Jack might just be having the worst day of his unlife. Filled with snappy action and sharp dialogue, and featuring a likable and worldly hero, Elrod's latest is certain to be a hit with the fang-loving crowd. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

Chicago sleuth Jack Fleming is no ordinary private investigator. He's a vampire. In this latest Vampire Files nugget, our bloodthirsty hero roams the Windy City's most dark and dangerous streets searching for his betrayer. A fantastic mystery.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"It's 1938 and everyone's braving Chicago's cold streets to catch the talent at Lady Crymsyn, Jack Fleming's swank new nightclub. So what if he bankrolled it with stolen mob money? Fleming earned it, washed it clean, and turned a burned-out hellhole into a palace that's pulling in the rich and powerful - like Gordy Weems, the mob boss who's declared Lady Crymsyn neutral ground." "Unfortunately, the club also attracts society swells like Hurley Dugan, the brains behind a kidnapping that Jack foiled. Out on bail, Dugan's onto Jack's unnatural secret, and he's made Lady Crymsyn his favorite after-hours haunt for blackmail. And Lady Crymsyn is also the perfect nightspot for a cheap hood out of New York who wants to muscle in on prime mob territory - which means taking out Gordy, Jack, and anyone else who gets in his way." Jack Fleming would prefer to stay out of danger - mortal or otherwise. But when the bullets fly and the blood flows, it'll become clear that the simple life of a club owner is not in the cards for a vampire with a thirst for justice.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

The ninth entry in Elrod's Vampire Files series offers clever characterization, wicked wit and palatable mayhem, played out on the chilly streets of 1938 Chicago (nicely evoked in Steve Stone's dark, wintry dust jacket art), six months after the action in Lady Crymsyn (2000). Vampire gumshoe Jack Fleming and his intrepid English partner, Escott, successfully rescue a kidnap victim, but find their heroics spoiled when it looks like the head kidnapper will get away with his nefarious deed. While bringing their socialite-psycho villain to justice, they also manage to become embroiled in a challenge to their gangster pal Gordy Weems's turf and to straighten out a love quadrangle involving Gordy, his radio actress girlfriend, Adelle Taylor, and her ex-husband and his new wife, Faustine Petrova, an exotic Russian ballerina with an accent thick enough to spread with caviar. Meanwhile, there's Jack's nightclub, the Lady Crymsyn, to run, with help from perky Bobbi Smythe, Jack's chanteuse girlfriend, and Myrna, the Crymsyn's resident ghost. Jack's powers of super-hypnosis and dematerialization are taxed beyond even his supernatural limits, and the latest audio technology, mob politics and a meat-house torture scene worthy of Wes Craven come into the picture before this entertaining detective romp is over. (Jan. 7) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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