Reviewed by Nancy Mehl for MyShelf.com
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Even before Bram Stoker's Dracula, the vampire, the undead night stalker, has fascinated mankind. From Buffy's Angel to Anne Rice's Lestat, vampire tales have filled books, movie screens, and imaginations. Down through the years, people have pondered the question of the "good vampire" - one that does not prey on human victims. In "Blood Games," Lee Killough has successfully addressed the possibility.

Garreth Mikalian is a cop - first and foremost. The fact that he is also a vampire is a secondary consideration, at least as far as his duties to humanity are concerned. In his personal life, being a vampire has caused him considerable consternation, especially in the area of his love life. His long-term flame and partner, Maggie Lebekov, is very unhappy with the "secrets" he keeps from her, but when Maggie is brutally murdered, and the killers drink both his and her blood at the crime scene, his "secrets" come back to haunt him. The fact that the murderers have sipped his blood means that they might also be "brought across" into the vampire life, and Garreth would be responsible for a "new-born" vampire, a responsibility he neither wants nor is willing to accept. As he tracks the killers across the United States, Garreth faces the most serious moral dilemma of his long life. If the murderers are vampires - they must be destroyed. If they are not vampires, but have his blood inside their bodies, they must still be destroyed before they cross over into a life of violent immortality. Either way it means murder at his hands - and a violation of everything he stands for.

Killough builds extreme tension in page after page of close calls and brutal murders. As Garreth closes in on the killers, his conflict becomes stronger - his final decision more imminent. The reader is caught up in compassion for Garreth while hating what he feels he must do.

This book was fascinating and cleverly constructed. I highly recommend it and can't wait to read the other books in this series.

*******

Nancy Mehl is the author of "Graven Images" and "Sinner's Song."