From Publishers Weekly
Lights, camera and action take a backseat to slippery shadows, snappy dialogue and an overwrought hybrid fantasy/SF plot in Canadian author Huff's alternately clever and annoying blend of farce, mystery and magic, the first in a trilogy. In this spinoff from the author's five-volume series (Blood Price, etc.) featuring vampire Henry Fitzroy, Fitzroy's streetwise ex-lover, Tony Foster, has moved with Fitzroy to Vancouver to study film. Now the set production assistant on CB Production's Darkest Night (think Angel), Foster pines for one of the hunky (alas, heterosexual) co-stars and dreams of being a director. When an actress is murdered under very "shadowy" circumstances, it turns out to have been done by a minion of a Shadowlord who slipped through a "gate" near the show's soundstage originally opened by Arra Pelindrake, a special effects wizard who also happens to be, well, a different sort of wizard on another world. Foster, Pelindrake and Fitzroy join forces to kill other minions sent to take over Earth and destroy Pelindrake, the Shadowlord's archenemy. The proceedings are enlivened with campy comments ("a world where Joss Whedon got canceled was exactly the kind of world where the Shadowlord could win"), but it's not enough to save an overextended plot light on substance and heavy with fang-in-cheek fun. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Four-hundred-fifty-year-old vampire Henry Fitzroy is trying to maintain a friendship with Tony Foster, a young man he rescued from the streets and used to drink blood from. Tony is now a production assistant for the syndicated show Darkest Night, where he has just discovered the dead body of the guest star. Tony fears it has something to do with the strange shadows he has seen around the studio, and his suspicions are confirmed when one shadow takes over the body of one of the show's stars. Tony turns to special-effects wizard Arra Pelindrake, who turns out to be a real wizard. She knows what the shadows are but is reluctant to help him, so Tony calls on Henry. Together, they persuade Arra to cooperate but can't get her to face down the shadows, with whom Tony and Henry are already being drawn into battle, for the shadows are intent on gaining a foothold in this world. An exciting, creepy adventure from a popular author. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Locus
A fun dark-fantasy adventure.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Smoke and Shadows, the first novel in an exciting trilogy by Tanya Huff, features the main characters from the author's wildly popular Blood quintet (Blood Price, Blood Trail, etc.): Tony Foster, a gay reformed street punk, and Henry Fitzroy, a 450-year-old vampire prince.

Henry and Tony have relocated from Toronto to Vancouver to start a new life. Tony, now 24 years old, has landed a job working as a production assistant for a company that produces a popular syndicated television series about a vampire detective. But trouble seems to follow Tony wherever he goes, and he soon starts seeing strange shadows on the set -- shadows that appear where normal shadows shouldn't be and act as if they're sentient. When an actress mysteriously dies in her dressing room, Tony and his vampiric friend investigate. The trail leads them to Arra Pelindrake, the enigmatic head of special effects for the production company. But when Arra finally discloses who she really is -- a wizard from another realm who escaped annihilation through a rift in space -- Tony and Henry soon find out that the shadows are the least of their worries!

Fans of other popular genre-blending supernatural sagas, like Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series and Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire novels, will undoubtedly enjoy Smoke and Shadows. An appealing mix of fantasy, horror, romance, and mystery, Huff's story succeeds because it doesn't take itself too seriously and even revels in poking fun at contemporary supernatural icons as well as mainstream science fiction and fantasy. Huff's biting (no pun intended) sense of humor makes this a highly entertaining page-turner. Paul Goat Allen

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Acclaimed fantasy author Tanya Huff returns to entertaining fantasy territory with this first novel in a new trilogy-featuring a popular character from her acclaimed Blood series. Tony, a former street kid-turned-producer, is behind a new TV series about a vampire detective. But what is real and what is fantasy? The answers are to be found in a wizard who's come to Earth from another dangerous dimension...and he's been followed.

Author Biography:

FROM THE CRITICS

Locus

If you enjoy contemporary fantasy, Tanya Huff has a distinctive knack.

Publishers Weekly

Lights, camera and action take a backseat to slippery shadows, snappy dialogue and an overwrought hybrid fantasy/SF plot in Canadian author Huff's alternately clever and annoying blend of farce, mystery and magic, the first in a trilogy. In this spinoff from the author's five-volume series (Blood Price, etc.) featuring vampire Henry Fitzroy, Fitzroy's streetwise ex-lover, Tony Foster, has moved with Fitzroy to Vancouver to study film. Now the set production assistant on CB Production's Darkest Night (think Angel), Foster pines for one of the hunky (alas, heterosexual) co-stars and dreams of being a director. When an actress is murdered under very "shadowy" circumstances, it turns out to have been done by a minion of a Shadowlord who slipped through a "gate" near the show's soundstage originally opened by Arra Pelindrake, a special effects wizard who also happens to be, well, a different sort of wizard on another world. Foster, Pelindrake and Fitzroy join forces to kill other minions sent to take over Earth and destroy Pelindrake, the Shadowlord's archenemy. The proceedings are enlivened with campy comments ("a world where Joss Whedon got canceled was exactly the kind of world where the Shadowlord could win"), but it's not enough to save an overextended plot light on substance and heavy with fang-in-cheek fun. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

VOYA - Leslie McCombs

This spinoff to Huff's enormously successful five-volume Blood series, which starred the team of private investigator Vicki Nelson and vampire Henry Fitzroy, picks up with Tony Foster, their often-unwilling partner in crime solving. Tony is off on his own, working in the Vancouver television industry as a production assistant on a show about, appropriately enough, a vampire detective. Things are going swimmingly until he begins to notice that the shadows on the set are behaving strangely. They are acting in ways that shadows should not behave. When an extra on the set is murdered, Tony finds himself thrust into a mystery that has its origins outside the known world. He calls on his friend and ex-lover Henry to help him stop the shadows before they take on lives of their own. This inventive adventure combines fantasy, horror, and mystery, making a unique stew of unexplainable events, detective work, and things spotted out of the corner of one's eye. The book stands alone, but it might be difficult for some readers to understand the relationships of the main characters without having read the prior series. Older teens who enjoy dark urban fantasy or mysteries with paranormal elements will enjoy this book. The persistent swearing and mature themes throughout the book might make it a better choice for less-conservative communities. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P S A/YA (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2004, DAW, 375p., Ages 15 to Adult.

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