‘Blood Is the Life’

I have reviewed several of John L. French‘s works here, but one series of his that I have yet to get into is Bianca Jones.

Jones is a Baltimore detective who becomes the unofficial “monster hunter” on the force, facing several foes and menaces with only the help of a strange bookstore owner and a medical examiner. There are a series of three books with her stories from Padwolf Publishing: Here There Be Monsters, Monsters Among Us, and The Last Monster. But here I review a short volume from Bold Venture Press, Blood Is the Life.

Blood Is the Life collections three connected short stories and is set at the beginning of Jones’ monster-hunting career. They all appeared in other works. She has been suspended after two related cases where she stopped some monsters. Back on the force, her unofficial job will be to hunt monsters. And, her first “official” case is to look into a series of murders that seems the work of a newly risen vampire.

If you haven’t read any of the Bianca Jones stories, which I haven’t yet, this is a good introduction to her and some of the characters, as it’s set early in her career. I hope these stories aren’t included in the above three books.

The first two stories are closely connected. In the first, a man meets up with a woman, but it turns out she is a vampire and he is accidentally turned into a vampire. Here, not everyone who is attacked by a vampire turns into one. But living in a park, he starts killing, which brings him to the attention of the police. Jones is sent to take care of him. She tries a different solution, which works but not in the way that’s expected.

This storyline is wrapped up in the second story, which addresses the outcome of that solution and that female vampire.

The third story is centered around one of the characters in the first two: Lt. Tavon Greggs, formerly a sergeant as this story is set a few years later. While Jones is out of town, our lieutenant thinks he can take care of what appears to be a new vampire in town due to his past experiences. But this one is a much more powerful, ancient vampire, and things don’t go well. Thankfully Jones returns.

This is a short and enjoyable collection. I have been thinking of getting the Bianca Jones series, and this is a good introduction to it. Check it out if you haven’t read any of them.