Jeanne A Stein, The Becoming

The Becoming

Jeanne A Stein

Ace, December 2006, $7.99, 304 pp.

ISBN: 0441014569

Anna Strong and her partner David are bail enforcement agents, or bounty hunters as they are better known. One night David goes into a bar to find John Donaldson who skipped out on his bail bond. Donaldson is charged with embezzlement, and there is no history that he is violent, yet David is taking much too long to bring him to the car where Anna is waiting. Donaldson walks out of the bar and proceeds to attack Anna, leaving her unconsciousness; she awakens in the hospital, cared for by Dr. Avery.

He tells her that Donaldson is a vampire, and because they exchanged blood she is becoming one too. Although she doesn't want to believe it, her fading reflection in the mirror, her telepathic abilities and her increased night vision convince her that she is indeed a vampire. In a short period of time she begins a liaison with Avery, searching for a kidnapped David, and she is almost killed by vampire hunters, The Revengers. Avery wants her to use mortals as food and turn her back on David, but she is determined to find him, even if it means putting her unlife on the line.

More serious in tone than Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series, and much less exotic than Anita Blake's tales by Laurel K. Hamilton, yet readers will love this good vampire thriller that has so many surprise twists and plenty of action. There is some humor in THE BECOMING, because an unknown being she dubs Casper communicates with Anna and helps her in dangerous situations. He is a great morale booster, and readers will want to read more novels just to find out who her guardian angel is.