Tomes of Shadowstalking

Welcome to the land of shadows, where evil is the greatest power, where nightfall marks the birth of terror, where your very soul is at risk. Join me as I investigate worlds filled with black magic and dark souls and encounter the monsters rule these wicked places.

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

Matthew Carter and his friends succeeded in driving a vampire searching for a cure to his condition--with often deadly consequences--from Houston. They thought they'd killed him, but in truth, he'd escaped and fled by sea, making his way to New Orleans, where the city's mysticism and occult heritage enabled him to hide himself that much better. But when a new series of deaths, all done by a mysterious serial killer with all signs indicating a rogue vampire, Matt finds himself dragged back into the middle of the struggle with the vampires. This time, though, there's more at stake: Matt's friend, TJ, was started on the path to full-fledged vampirism, and though they thought they'd cured her, TJ's starting to change again. Can they put an end to the rogue vampire and save TJ, or are they all going to fall prey to yet another rogue's plan for domination and ascension?

Dark Blood is a sequel to Night Blood, though I didn't know it when I bought the book. Still, you don't need to read the first book to understand the second, though you'll be missing out on a lot of the background information. Dark Blood has a mostly self-contained plot, and the author fills you in on what you need to know when you need it.

Given the city's reputation of possessing a "relaxed" attitude towards the occult, I wasn't really all that surprised with the way the vampires were able to blend so easily into the city. I was a bit startled at the amount of sex the author worked into this book. I don't recall it being mentioned all that often in Night Blood, but it seemed much more prevalent here. Of course, last time the characters didn't know what they were facing; this time they do, so I guess they were taking the time to enjoy themselves while they still had it. I personally would have preferred to see more conflicts between vampires, but what was there was satisfying.

Like its predecessor, I hesitate to recommend Dark Blood to anyone but a vampire fan that's not afraid of blood, gore, sex, and violence. There's a lot of it, but for the stout-hearted it will be a walk in the park to read.

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