Carl Houseman is a small-town detective with a huge case to solve. Dead bodies, violent attacks, and a so-called vampire combine to make Carl's week a busy one. With help from Hester and Harry--fellow cops--it's Carl's job to track down a killer. But is the killer human?

If you like vampire stories mixed with a healthy dose of criminology, then this book is for you. This is the type of book that's good by the pool on a sunny day.... Not so good before bed on a rainy night.

I liked that the question of the vampire's existence was left to the very end of the story. Is the killer a vampire? Is he not? I wasn't sure where the author was going with it until the final chapter, which is always great. I hate being able to guess the end of a book.

There weren't any parts that I particularly didn't like. In fact, I was hoping for more books about Carl Houseman and his cases...and there are more! Bliss.

Well, I read the excerpt from the next book featuring Carl Houseman, and I'll be looking up this author at our local library. Good, light, thrilling summer reading.

Donald Harstad is a former police officer, which lends realism to the book. He has a good idea of how to pace the story and enjoys cliffhanger chapter endings.

I read a lot of vampire stories, thanks to the Stake & Garlic Contest here at Writing.Com. This was a light, fun venture into modern-day vampires. I'm not big on Anne Rice and the like; Harstad is a tad more modern and looks at vampires from the point of view of a regular joe. The on-going criminal investigation, combined with the possibility of a real-life vampire, really made the story interesting.

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Created Jun 28, 2004 at 11:05am • Submit your own review...