For the first time-a rogue master vampire hits town, and Anita gets caught in the middle of an undead turf war. Jean- Claude, the Master Vamp of the city, wants her for his own- but his enemies have other plans. And to make matters worse, Anita takes a hit to the heart when she meets a stunningly handsome junior high science teacher named Richard Zeeman. They're two humans caught in the crossfire- or so Anita thinks.

Chapter 1 THERE WAS DRIED CHICKEN blood imbedded under my fingernails. When you raise the dead for a living, you have to spill a little blood. It clung in flaking patches to my face and hands. I’d tried to clean the worst of it off before coming to this meeting, but some things only a shower would fix. I sipped coffee from a personalized mug that said, “Piss me off, pay the consequences,” and stared at the two men sitting across from me.

Mr. Jeremy Ruebens was short, dark, and grumpy. I’d never seen him when he wasn’t either frowning or shouting. His small features were clustered in the middle of his face as if some giant hand had mashed them together before the clay had dried. His hands smoothed over the lapel of his coat, the dark blue tie, tie clip, white shirt collar. His hands folded in his lap for a second, then began their dance again: coat, tie, tie clip, collar, lap. I figured I could stand to watch him fidget maybe five more times before I screamed for mercy and promised him anything he wanted. The second man was Karl Inger. I’d never met him before. He was a few inches over six feet. Standing, he had towered over Ruebens and me. A wavy mass of short-cut red hair graced a large face. He had honest-to-god muttonchop sideburns that grew into one of the fullest mustaches I’d ever seen. Everything was neatly trimmed except for his unruly hair. Maybe he was having a bad hair day…

She's the 'it' girl for bloodsuckers, werewolves, wereleopards and assorted undead types. (News Press [Fort Myers, FL])

One of the most fascinating fictional heroines since Scarlett O'Hara-and a hell of a lot more fun than most. (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

[A] gutsy, no-nonsense female unafraid to take on anything that the preternatural world throws her way. (Library Journal)