"L'enforcier is back! Vampire Finds an Affaire d' Amour."
Alek Dragovich, l'enforcier, is back! He is still searching
for that illusive affaire d' amour and is the focus of
AFTERIMAGE, sequel to DOUBLE IMAGE. It is the second
book in Ms. Roycraft's vampire romance series. Alek is an ancient and powerful member of the Directorate,
the ruling body of the international vampire culture. He is
fearsome and efficient, however his unorthodox methods in
solving his cases often finds him in hot water with
Nikolena, the Directorate's head honcho. His handling of
his last case in New Orleans had left two of the
brotherhood dead, and Nikolena is less than pleased. That is how Drago finds himself in Vicksburg, Mississippi,
performing a chore he finds trivial, irritating, and
distastful. He is to pass the final assessment on a young
gyspy woman, Marya Jaks, to decide if she will live or die.
He had better things to do than deal with the fate of an
aberration. An aberration is a child of a dhampir who in
turn is the offspring of a vampire and their mortal mate.
In general he found them disgusting, but in this case he is
inclined to pass the sentence which would most irritate
Nikolena. With their vampire DNA, dhampirs were mortals with the
ability to sense the presence of vampires where other
mortals could not. This presented a danger should one
become a vampire hunter. Marya's father had been one such
as this. He had eventually killed his own father as well as
a number of others before being destroyed himself by a
vampire he was tracking. With her one quarter vampire blood
Marya too could sense the vampire presence, making her a
danger to them all. Her tainted blood didn't even make her
suitable prey. Drago knew he should be sentencing her to
death. Every two years for the past twelve, Marya had been
evaluated by an official of the vampire community. The
verdicts had been split three to three, and it would be
Drago's job to cast the final and deciding vote. Marya is
more angry than afraid when Drago sneaks into her room. She
knows why he's come. She'd grown to hate these vampires and
their visits. The biyearly intrusion had prevented her from
participating in her Roma culture, from having friends let
alone lovers, never knowing when a death sentence would be
meted out all because of the blood she shared with the
creatures. To her surprise the vampire awards her life, with the
admonition that though his decision is final, her life
would be forfeit should she ever cause a vampire harm. She
is not surprised though when, shortly thereafter, she is
informed by another of his kind that Drago had reconsidered
his benevolence. One thing she knows for certain is that
she isn't going down alone. When the executioner comes for
her, be it him or another, she'd darn well take the vampire
with her. She can't resist the parting shot of letting Drago in on
her plan. The threat alone should have sealed her fate,
but Drago knew he hadn't issued her death order. Stunned
by her temerity he returns to her out of mere curiosity,
but soon realizes that Marya is but a pawn in a plot
against him. He must keep her close if he is to determine
the identity of the vampire who has betrayed him. Nikolena
has her suspicions and sets them on a course that will put
the two of them in grave danger. Drago has lived long and is prepared to fight to the end if
need be. Time spent with Marya, during the course of the
investigation, stir in him unexpected feelings for her. Her
beauty, courage, and strength, strike a chord in the man
he had once been so long ago, a man who had suffered
prejudice, just as Marya's people had. It had made him
strong, and it is that man that Marya finds herself drawn
to. Would he be sent to the true death, just when he'd
found someone to live for? Who wants Drago dead and why?
And if they survive, is there a chance that two beings,
such as he and Marya, could find happiness together? After
all the affaire d' amour is what makes eternity bearable,
no? As with her previous works, AFTERIMAGE is a
multifaceted tale of mystery, intrigue, and paranormal that
will appeal to a multitude of romance readers. This
installment gives the reader a much better understanding of
the vampire power structure in this world that Ms. Roycraft
has established. Look for the third book SHADOW IMAGE
featuring Ricard De Chaux, known in the vampire world as le
docteur la mort, in the Spring of 2002. I know I will. Copyright © 2002
Reviewed by Leslie Tramposch
Posted January 9, 2002
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