Melina Markowitz's life is definitely not normal. She doesn't get to do any of the normal things a young woman would do like date, go out with friends and enjoy a great social life. Her problem, if you want to call it a problem, started at the age of three when she fell into her family pool and died. She was resuscitated and from that moment on saw dead people, and could sense otherworldly creatures, such as vampires, werewolves, fairies and other magical beings.

Now Melina works all night in a Sacramento hospital, plays messenger for otherworldly beings during the day and finds sleep in snippets of time when she can. Lucky for her she does not require as much sleep as most of us. A luscious- looking vampire doctor asks Melina to deliver an envelope to a vampire who sits on the vampire council. As Melina nears the home, Ninja guys drop from the trees and beat her up, steal the envelope and disappear in dark SUVs.

A martial arts expert herself, Melina doesn't recognize their moves. After discussing this with her mentor, Melina realizes something isn't right. She finds the SUV and follows them to a Latino gang neighborhood, only to see horrific creatures jump out of the SUV and attack the young gang members, shredding and eating them. But Melina can't drum up support from the vampires or the werewolves and when an innocent baby is hurt in the mayhem, she starts to investigate. Ted Goodnight, a beat cop, is investigating too, and when Melina seems to always show up in the areas he is investigating, he thinks he should investigate her, professionally and personally.

I really enjoyed the characters that Eileen Rendahl created in DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER. Melina is hilariously funny and I'm ready to be entertained by a series of Melina Markowitz adventures. DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER is sexy, witty and a great debut. I'm hooked.

Book Summary

The first in a fantastic new paranormal series about a messenger from the supernatural underworld.

Melina Markowitz is a Messenger, a go-between for paranormal forces and supernatural creatures. Problem is, when a girl's a go-between, it's hard not to get caught in the middle...

When ninjas steal an envelope from Melina, her search leads her to a Taoist temple in Old Sacramento, where the priests seem to practice Zen and the art of mayhem. Melina learns from the handsome ER doctor (and vampire) who gave her the envelope that it contained talismans created by the priests to control Chinese vampires, who are attacking gang members to spark a street war.

Although he may look more like a surfer than a cop, Ted Goodnight is dead serious about investigating the surge in gang violence. At every turn he runs into Melina, a very attractive-and very mysterious-young woman. Can Melina enlist his help to battle something he doesn't even believe in without blowing her cover?

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