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Jebel Haven used to be the lowest scum of the earth until the former con found his true calling of killing vampires and other creatures of the night. He and his compatriots make their kills in a cloak of darkness that keeps other mortals ignorant of their deadly tasks. However, the Vampire Council is well aware of his success rate and fears he could turn into a bigger problem for them. The Chief orders the relatively new enforcer Char now a Nighthawk, to terminate Jebel.

Before she can hunt her prey, a vampire mother visits Char to tell her that one of her nestlings Danny has vanished. At about the same time, FBI agent Brenda Novak coerces Jebel into helping her find her missing son Danny. Eventually Char and Jebel meet in Seattle and each wants to kill the other at first. However despite their mutual distrust of each other, they join forces to find Danny and battle a cult and its demon to the death.

Once again, Susan Sizemore has created a fantastic vampire story that brings fresh life to the Nosferatu legends. The action is intense, but easy to follow, which is a tribute to Ms. Sizemore's storytelling abilities. However, the heart of this work lies in the protagonists, two partners who find themselves in a very shaky business relationship and alliance. These two natural enemies not only are attracted to one another, but are also struggling against a common opponent. The "Laws of the Blood" series is deservedly becoming a cult favorite.

Harriet Klausner

"Partners" is the second volume in Susan Sizemore's new series about vampiric Enforcers, the Keepers of the Law as declared by the Strigoi Council. In it we meet Char McCairn, a recently made Enforcer who has been specializing in research rather than munching on her normal prey, bad vampires. Her idyllic life in Portland, Oregon is brought to an end by two events. Helen Bourbon comes to Char to ask her to seek a missing nestling, Daniel, a newborn who was still not in control of his twin thirsts for blood and sex. The other interruption is Istvan, feared head of the Enforcers. He gives Char a special assignment -- kill Jebel Haven, a human vampire hunter who was getting too close to the truth.

Jebel, after spending most of his life as a violent thug has had a defining moment in a bar in Arizona when a whole town came under attack by the primitive but deadly vampires of the American West. Now, in combination with fellow survivors Santini and Baker, Haven spends his time keeping the Wild West vampire free. Lately though, he has discovered the existence of urban vampires and is considering a change in focus. Hence Istvan's concern. Then, unexpectedly FBI profiler Brenda Novak shows up in Haven's office and blackmails Jebel into hunting for her missing son, Daniel.

No surprise, the missing fledgling and the FBI woman's son are one and the same. He has been captured by a demon and a sorcerer who are using him as part of a ritual the will grant them eternal life, and slaughter most of Seattle as a side effect. Istvan, while breaking up a vampire child abuse ring, had to kill or drive away almost all of Seattle's vampires, leaving the city open to the sorcerer's spells, which only Char knows how to combat. Unfortunately, an ancient treaty makes it impossible for her to take on the demon. So Char and Jebel are on a collision course, forced by circumstances to work together in spite of inclination and orders.

As you might imagine, the story takes many twists and turns on the way to its final, surprise conclusion. Expect to be intrigued and delighted by a different kind of vampire story. You will find yourself enjoying a strange mix of characters of whom the vampires are often the most reasonable. The books in the series have so far been unrelated, although there is some character cross-over in the nature of 'guest appearances.' So there is no compelling reason to read the books in any particular order yet. If Sizemore continues her successful efforts this will be a series to remember.

Partners is the second book in Susan Sizemore's Laws of the Blood series, and while I enjoyed the first novel, The Hunt, I found Partners to be a much more energetic and entertaining read. There is a lot of life in this novel's characters, especially the undead ones, and I felt like an active observer of all the action that takes place in these pages. Partners also significantly expands upon the self-styled vampire mythology that Sizemore is crafting in this fresh and unusual series. Not only do we learn more about vampires, we are also introduced to other supernatural creatures lurking within the shadows of human society.

Vampires are subject to their own special laws in this universe, and Enforcers are the ubervampires charged with the duty to enforce these laws. Vampires can only feed upon mortal flesh in authorized Hunts, for example. Most importantly, they can do nothing that would alert the human population to their presence. When vampires break the law, Enforcers serve as judge, jury, and executioner. Charlotte McCairn is a relatively new Enforcer; in the two years since her transformation from vampire to Hunter, she has spent her time doing research rather than face active duty out on the streets. She calls herself Char because that sounds tough, but she has yet to earn the distinction of the name. That changes when Istvan the dhampir, the baddest Enforcer of them all, sends her out to kill Jebel Haven. Haven is a self-styled vampire killer; even though the vampire-like creatures he has devoted his life to killing aren't actually vampires, the Strigoi Council has decided he poses a future threat to vampirekind and must be eliminated. At the same time, a vampire nest leader comes to Char asking for help - one of her nestlings has disappeared and may be involved in some pretty dark activities (of the sulfurous variety) - a definite no-no in vampire circles. Meanwhile, vampire buster Jebel Haven is coerced into taking a job of his own, hunting the very same vampire Char is searching for. The missing young vampire seems to have gotten mixed up with a demon, and Char and Haven eventually work together in an uneasy, complicated, increasingly close partnership to find him. Char plans to kill Jebel after the search is over, of course, but things get a little complicated along the way.

Char is a fascinating character, learning the ways of the Enforcer before our (and Jebel's) very eyes. There is plenty of action to keep the reader engaged in the story, and the evolving relationship between Char and Jebel is not only interesting but a lot of fun to watch. After all, vampire killer meets vampire charged with the task of killing said vampire hunter isn't your typical romantic pairing. Sizemore does a wonderful job letting the relationship develop, giving us quite a grounding in her vision of vampirology in the process. At the same time, the question of how these two opposites will react toward one another in the end is never far from the reader's mind. All of this makes for an engaging and refreshingly different sort of vampire story and helps establish Susan Sizemore as a bonafide modern craftswoman in the art of vampirology.