Descendants of Darkness, Vol. 3

I had a few doubts as to whether I was going to like this series at first, but Vol. 3 dispelled them. This was a VERY good story; intense, dramatic, and well told. If you were only to get ONE book from the 11-part series, this would be it. Though of course you should also at least get Book 1, which introduces the characters and the situation presented here. The (delightful) hero is Tsuzuki, a "shinigami" or Guardian of Death, who is dispatched by the Judgement Bureau of the Minstry of Hades to investigate what appear to be vampire attacks aboard a luxury cruise liner. The focus of the story is Hizoka, Tsuzuki's young partner, who once again comes face to face with - er - the guy on the cover (I don't want to spoil or anything). The story follows up on what was revealed about these characters in Volume 1, but where DoD1 just sort of threw the information at us, here we have intense character development combined with a well constructed mystery story. DoD is supernatural horror. It is lurid, psychologically murky, and has adult themes. The deep affection and respect between the heroes stands out against this dark milieu, and makes for the major attraction of the series.