The President's Vampire

March 7, 2011
The thrilling sequel to 2010's Blood Oath gets off to an uneasy start as even Lovecraftian monsters pale in the context of human terrorism and war. Nathaniel Cade, the titular vampire, and his assistant, Zach Barrows, are assigned to work with the mysterious Col. Graves and megaprofitable military contractor Archer/Andrews to investigate possible infiltration by the infamous Shadow Company. While Barrows and the other data agents look for a paper trail, Cade takes to the field, where he embarks in a series of gory battles against the rapidly evolving intelligent lizards called Snakeheads. Events build to a cinematic showdown in a secret lab, interspersed with scenes from Cade's secret past. The conclusion will leave the reader breathless and wondering what horrors the future holds.

March 1, 2011

Farnsworth (Blood Oath, 2010) turns in another fast-paced thriller with a supernatural flair in the second installment of his Nathaniel Cade series.

Cade isn't the garden-variety bite-'em-in-the-neck sort of vampire: He's been around for decades in the service of the U.S. government. More particularly, Cade is sworn to protect the president of the United States, and sometimes that gets a little hairy. Only a select few know about Cade and all of the other things that go bump in the night. In fact, the government's done a bang-up job of keeping Cade and the constant incursions from the Other Side from public knowledge. Zach Barrows, Cade's handler, is one who sometimes wishes he didn't know what evil lurks around every corner, particularly when that evil is intent on killing him and the rest of mankind. Although inoculated against zombies and taught to handle himself in a fight, Zach really would just rather have a quiet night and a little recreational sex. No such luck, though. Cade has unearthed a strange surge of creatures that Zach has dubbed the "snakeheads." Reptilian in looks, the strong, scaly things have an appetite for human flesh and a strength and resilience that make them hard to bring down in a fair fight. Now it looks like the snakeheads may be multiplying in numbers that even Cade, with his enormous capacity to outwit and overpower the creatures, may not be able to stop. Farnsworth leans heavily on every conspiracy theory ever uttered out loud, and explains most of it by blaming it on the CIA and a bad seed civilian company, both of which are almost comically nasty. And he veers into silliness-quite often, with villains that lack only a Snidely Whiplash mustache to paint the full picture. He makes up for the lack of depth in his characters and plot with some crackerjack action scenes that carry the story.

This book won't change lives or linger long in the memory, but for pure entertainment purposes, it's hard to beat Cade and company riding to the rescue.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 15, 2011

Nathaniel Cade is one of the undead, a secret weapon in the arsenal of the president of the United States in the war against monsters of the Other Side. It's the present day, and savage reptilian beasts cooked up in the laboratory of a supersecret agency are wreaking havoc. The bite of one creature turns a human into a mindless, killing nightmare. Fortunately, Cade's superhuman strength and cunning have enabled him to destroy these monsters, but he now faces an entire army. There are plenty of chills and thrills as Cade and his mortal pal/handler Zach Barrows attempt to outwit and outmaneuver the devious mind behind this diabolical plan. The plot is so intricate that sometimes it's hard to tell who the good guys are--except for Zach and Cade, of course. VERDICT Readers who enjoy adventure with a compelling cast of characters will enjoy this clever, witty sequel to Blood Oath.--Patricia Altner, Biblioinfo.com, Columbia, MD

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.