Vampyr?
Kevin D. Randle
Five Star, Jan 5 2010, $25.95
ISBN: 9781594149214

Reporter Tom Johnson shoots Romanian vampiress Linda Miller in the forehead. Almost immediately after he fires the gun, cops arrive. He explains to the police that Linda was about to bite into the jugular vein of his unconscious girlfriend, Sarah Hartwell.

As the police arrest him for murder, Tom pleads with the police officers to burn Miller's corpse so she can never come back as he insists this is the best way to destroy the vampire virus that infected her. Police captain Steve Mitchell scorns Tom's fantasy as he assumes the culprit is either seeking an insanity plea or trying to destroy the evidence. Thus Mitchell is shocked when the coroner steals Linda's body, but instead of a corpse, she has returned to "life" while the pathologist is found dead.

This is an engaging paranormal police procedural due ironically to the lively Linda although Tom is the star. Whereas the villainess is a fresh and perky vampire, the hero is somewhat stereotypical. With a nod to McGavin's Kolchak the Night Stalker original movie, fans will enjoy this Vampyr? thriller anticipating a "crash" between Miller and Johnson.

Harriet Klausner