Michael G. (doctorslime) - , reviewed on 12/20/2005 + 241 more book reviews

Anyway, here's a blurb I am unapologetically borrowing from Amazon: ;)

"This is the second of three books that Mercedes Lackey has written about Diana Tregarde, a psychic investigator and 'Guardian' whose job is to struggle with occult evil. The story is set in New York City, where Diana is working at an occult supply store making ends meet while she begins a career as a writer of romance novels. On this particular workday, she finds herself faced with an energy-draining hunter, a gypsy boy on the run from an unknown danger, and a different kind of hunter pursuing the first. Diana retreats to her apartment, baffled by these events.
Elsewhere in the city, a bus with a ghostly driver runs its route, delivering death to its passengers. One of these is the close friend of and lover of people who are dear to Diana. When Lenny and Keith call her from the morgue, she rushes down to discover that something has torn the living soul from the victim, leaving him a worse than empty husk. Then the gypsy boy turns up dead in a nearby alley and Diana finds herself confronting the vampire that failed to protect him. Diana's investigations will bring back some of her worst fears, panic attacks that linger from a time when she almost failed.

Somewhere else, a rock band relaxes at a Halloween party and they take a drug that makes a tiny adjustment to their metabolism. They find themselves feeding first on the appreciation and then on the fear, of their audiences. For all but Dave Kendall, once Diana's lover, this is a one-way spiral down to the darkest evil. Diana's energy hunter has made them, and a strange Japanese monster, a Gaki, is his companion. The Gaki takes what the energy vampires leave behind, the soul. To fight these creatures, human and not, Diana, Lenny and Keith team up with the most unlikely fourth, a true vampire. Even so, they are almost beaten before they start.

'Children of the Night' is very much the best of the three Tregarde tales, and I would even go so far as to name it one of her best stories over all. She lavishes enough attention on the characters to make them all believable individuals. The story is one that naturally keeps the reader's attention, replete with the embellishment that adds interest, and that has become so rare in modern storytelling. And the romantic byplay between Diana and Andre LaBrel, the vampire, is done just right. It is a shame that Diana Tregarde never went beyond the three volumes. But, Lackey's writing skills are such that she does not like to get stuck in a groove, and for that I cannot blame her. Maybe, some day soon, we will meet Diana again."

Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details