DYING BITES – D D Barant
Bloodhound Files, Book 1
St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 0-312-94258-3
July 2009
Paranormal Suspense

St. Louis, Missouri – Parallel Dimension

FBI Agent Jace Valchek was drowning her sorrows in alcohol when she started having the most intense dream. Instead of lying in the comfort of her bedroom, Jace is standing in her nightshirt in the office of some suited government spook who is telling her that vampires exist. Huh, vampires? Jace, not one to suffer confusion in silence, decides to end the dream by shooting the man. Unfortunately, he gets back up with a face full of fangs and, even worse, tells her it’s not a dream. Oops!

An FBI behavioral profiler, Jace has been brought over to a parallel Earth dimension --- one in which magic is rampant, vampires and lycanthropes are out of the closet or coffin and are at the top of the food chain; the human population has been decimated almost to extinction, and a serial killer is on the loose. The rules of the game are that when Jace captures the killer, she will be returned to her world. OK, fine, right? Wrong! It’s not too long into the investigation that Jace discovers that the killer is human, and the vampires and shifters are not exactly blameless in the situation. Is Jace fighting on the wrong side?

A new kick-ass huntress has joined the paranormal fight; her name is Jace Valchek, and she soon learns that DYING BITES. The head of this alternate NSA is a take-no-prisoners vampire who has a mentally ill sociopath on his hands. Unfortunately, this world full of magic, golems and other beasties is unprepared to handle mental illness. This is where Jace comes in. She has no magic, nor claws nor fangs, but packs some serious heat and is mentally and physically ready to take on all comers.

I highly recommend DYING BITES for lovers of great paranormal suspense. It’s intense, exhilarating, funny, and just page-turningly entertaining. I can’t wait for DEATH BLOWS, the next installment in what’s looking to be a fabulous series.

Kathy Samuels