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Nathaniel Cade has been around for a long time and seen many very unpleasant things. He has, after all, served as the President's Vampire for 140 years, and is sworn to serve and protect the interests of the nation. When there is a new outbreak of something evil that Cade recognizes but hasn't encountered in a very long time, he and his handler, Zach Barrows, are sent to contain and exterminate this nastiness. Throughout history, there have been stories and legends about creatures that are part human, part lizard. Someone or some group has found a way to genetically modify these creatures. There is an up side, kind of. The creatures have kept some of the positive elements of being a reptile: flexibility, strength, endurance, etc. The down side is, at least for right now, the change from human to reptile occurs very quickly, which means the creatures (if they survive the transformation) need lots of food right now. The part of the brain that can reason beyond the immediate is now much smaller than the part of the brain that controls motivation and appetite. The worst part of this new mutation is that it spreads through the bite. So if a Snakehead doesn't kill its victim, the victim becomes a Snakehead. One can see where this might be a problem, both short and long-term. Cade and Barrows are assigned to the problem, but they are split up. Cade works with a CIA Colonel, a man who is somehow familiar to him but Cade knows he hasn't ever seen Colonel Graves before. Barrows is assigned to a trio, referred to by Graves as Bell, Book, and Candle. Book and Candle are male, Bell is not. Given that all the people involved work in some way for the CIA, nobody trusts anybody else. Everyone has an agenda, and everyone is aware that the others may not be working toward the same goals. Farnsworth's first book, BLOOD OATH, was a very good book. So is THE PRESIDENT'S VAMPIRE. One of the aspects of OATH that made it so good was the newness of the concept: a vampire working for the President against supernatural forces of evil. Obviously, VAMPIRE can't bring that same novelty. What it does bring is character growth. Barrows is not quite the callow man he was in OATH. Tania, the female vampire from the earlier book has a slightly bigger role, and with that comes some knowledge of her attraction to Cade. Farnsworth also gives the reader a threat, and a villain, truly terrifying. One can only hope that this series continues. § P.J. Coldren lives in northern lower Michigan where she reads and reviews widely across the mystery genre when she isn't working in her local hospital pharmacy.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, March 2011
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