Life Blood (Vampire Files, No. 2)

The second story, "Lifeblood", takes place just a few weeks after the first story finishes. Jack and Bobbi have settled into some kind of a relationship and Jack also spends some of his time helping Escott with his private investigations. However they soon decide that it would be wise for Jack to have some more of his home earth stored at Escott's place in case he has a problem with returning to his hotel room so Jack drives 'home' to Ohio to collect it. On the way he realises he is being followed and eventually has a showdown with the two people in the car - vampire hunters. They're obviously both rather loony and have read far too many vampire novels, thinking that they are safe from Jack with their garlic and crosses. He gives them a flat tyre and then continues on his way. Once he's collected the earth he passes his parents' house to find the vampire hunters are there. He chases them off, then returns to Chicago but worried about his parents. Unfortunately he hasn't completely escaped the vampire hunters and they start to plague him in Chicago; he's worried about Bobbi and whether they will go after her. His attention is also taken by an old woman, Gaylen Dumont, who has responded to his adverts in the papers asking for Maureen to contact him (Maureen is his lost love and the vampire who made him). Gaylen is Maureen's sister, now 74 years old, and she gives Escott some information which might help him to find Maureen. However there's more to Gaylen than Jack initially realises and more danger to Bobbi than just from the vampire hunters. Jack is faced with an impossible situation, one that he realises Maureen found herself in, and it's only with the help of Escott his friend that he can survive at all. This story is more gritty perhaps than the first as we have more emotional engagement from Jack. Being a vampire makes him mostly bombproof but it doesn't mean that he isn't extremely vulnerable because of the friendships he has made and because of his family. The story is always interesting with some great humorous touches and Jack as a character is always very appealing. I found that as a reader I really cared about what happened to him and wanted things to work out well for him. It's a great second book in the series and possibly could be read as a standalone book although it might seem rather complex. The ending leaves the question of Maureen still unresolved and this is dealt with more fully in the third book.

P. N. Elrod's series "The Vampire Files" kicks into high gear in Book Two, "Lifeblood." Nice guy vampire Jack Fleming is still getting used to being one of the undead, helping his friend Charles Escott with a few investigations and trying to build some sort of happy live with Bobbi Smythe. However, his "life" is suddenly facing a couple of major complications. First, a pair of fairly incompetent but nonetheless deadly vampire hunters are on his trail. They do not know that crosses and silver do not bother our hero, but there is no reason for Jack to tell them that. Second, he has finally had a response from the ads he has been placing for Maureen in newspapers around the country and meets Gaylen Dumont, an old woman who claims to be his beloved Maureen's younger sister. Yes, it seems that Maureen is the vampire who sired Jack, and now Gaylen wants a small favor from our hero. "Lifeblood" ups the ante a bit from the first book in "The Vampire Files." Elrod has a much better feel for the bad guys (and gals) this time around that she did with the gangsters. The practical side of being a vampire has been pretty much worked out in terms of what parts of what everybody knows about vampires, courtesy of Bram Stoker's "Dracula," are actually true. But what I like is that the practical realities of being a vampire are central to the story Elrod is telling. There is also a harder edge to this story, with the more gruesome elements balancing the comic confrontations a bit more than in the previous volume. It is clear that we are in the beginning of a lengthy tale to be told and I appreciate a writer who wants to take their time in telling their tale well.

Jack Flemming, ace reporter, had the unusual experience of waking up one evening to find that he was dead. Actually, to find out he was UNdead-- apparently his old lover, Maureen, WASN'T kidding when she said she was a vampire!! In "Bloodlist", the first book of the Vampire Files series, Jack was in the unique position of being able to track down his own murderers while gaining experience in his new "life" (I use the term loosely, here). In the first book he teamed up with an actor-turned-P.I. named Charles, and the two formed a mutually beneficial relationship: Jack's strength, heightened senses and ability to disappear aided Charles's investigations, while Charles had the helpful ability to move freely about in daylight. The pair are back again in the second in the series, "Lifeblood". This time around Jack is getting more comfortable with his new condition, but is trying to find his lost lover, Maureen, who mysteriously disappeared 5 years ago. The search for her is suddenly complicated by Maureen's estranged (and possibly dangerous) sister and two bumbling-yet-dangerous vampire hunters who think Jack is some hideous creature of the night. Nothing could be farther from the truth as Jack is an extremely likeable character. He does not feed on humans, preferring cattle at the stockyards with occasional horse blood for treat, he has a girlfriend, and he even sends money home to his parents. Jack is the sort of supernatural creature you would actually LIKE to have as a friend.Set in Chicago towards the end of the Depression when Capone is in jail but crime lords still rule the city, The Vampire Files is a truly wonderful new genre: hardboiled vampire detective fiction. In the style of great detective stories like "Maltese Falcon", there are a lot verbal jabs and wisecracks in addition to sudden plot twists that keep you guessing. The characters are sometimes a little stylized, like film-noir-- Jack's girlfriend is a nightclub singer who used to perform in a gig called The Nightcrawler, and there's of course the big bruiser of a hitman with nerves like taught piano wire-- but this adds to the drama and flavor of the book and makes it more period and believable. The writing is excellent and the plot clips along at a fast pace that immediately draws in the reader. The story is fun and unusual with a vampire-cum-investigator as its main character, so even if you're not into vamp novels, you are easily drawn in. This is a series of books, and it's best to begin with #1, "Bloodlist" and work your way through the books. You COULD start here with #2, "Lifeblood", but you'd be missing out on a lot of history, characters and insight into Jack himself. Ms. Elrod doesn't spend much time rehashing what has happened before, so someone new to the series picking it up halfway through won't get all the subtle references.All in all, I really enjoy this series and highly recommend it!!

In this book, Jack is still searching for the woman who made him a vampire. He finally decides to give up his search, therefore withdrawing his personal ad from the paper. Several people notice, and as a result, he has several vempire slayers on his tail. I won't reveal the ending, but I'll say this: it is a very good book, even for people who are not normally interested in vampires or in mysteries.

I will never again watch a movie or read a book about hunting down and eradicating vampires in the same way after having become acquainted with Jack Fleming. From now on, I'm rooting for the vampire.Jack is the ultimate vampire hero; sexy, smart and supernatural. He is a thrill to know.Elrod's characters are all, as a matter of fact, great to know, even those who you hate. They are well drawn, finely detailed, until they become living breathing people who leave you confused as to whether you've been reading fact or fantasy. She also knows how to bring the time period alive.Ms. Elrod you have my assurance that as your newest devotee I will be reading, no, devouring your books, one by one and then waiting for new ones to come out.