Vampires and Fallen Angels

Deep In The Woods
Chris Marie Greene
Ace, Mar 2010, $15.00
ISBN: 9780441018208

In London, vampire hunter Dawn Madison leads her team on a mission to destroy the Underground. They have captured a female master who they interrogate; learning there is another master who, like their prisoner, can shapeshift.

At Queenshill School, the Underground turned the coeds into undead teens who are willing to die to rescue their female master from Dawn. Dawn's team leader and lover Costin remains bound to Jonah's vampire body, which is costing him his Soul Traveler power at a time he needs every resource he possesses to defeat the Underground as he has gone under the school’s ground in search of the master.

Following the Los Angeles Underground mission accomplished, Dawn’s search for the London Underground continues in the latest Vampire Babylon tale (see The Path of Razors), but the culture is radically different yet as dark and gritty. Dawn remains a lean mean fighting machine but since that short stretch as a vampire turned back to human, she struggles with an internal fuse that ignites too easily. Complex relations make the Vampire Babylon series a top notch urban fantasy filled with twists, turns and challenges fans have come to expect from Chris Marie Greene.
Harriet Klausner

And Falling, Fly
Skyler White
Berkley, Mar 2010, $15.00
ISBN: 9780425232347

Olivia the fallen angel is depressed with how far she has sunken just because of wanting. She has become a vampire who will never know desire.

Neuroscientist Dominic O’Shaugnessy has a history he wishes he could rewrite or at least bury. He is ashamed and prays he will one day atone though he remains haunted by visions he cannot rationalize.

Olivia and Dominic meet at the L’Otel Matillide, the subterraneous Hotel of the Damned. She has lost all hope while he hopes to find some hope. However, with one another they may find something more than hope if they take a chance but both knows that the something more can be damnation of the dead.

This is a complicated read as the atmosphere and brooding lead couple enhances a metaphysical story line that demands the audience to ponder what is life, death, and a sort of nothingness. The readers will empathize with each of the lead couple whose darkness makes neither likable, which in turn enhances the feeling of hopelessness as if they checked into the Hotel California for the damned. Although the relationship moves too quickly towards love for a despairing, distrusting duo like this pair, readers will consider the meaning of life and whether death is its antonym. Harriet Klausner