BOOK REVIEW
Dancing in the Dark By T.D. McKinney Published by Amber Quill Press Copyright 2004 ISBN#: 1-59279-290-1 (Electronic) 1-59279-825-X (Paperback) Genre Subgenre: Vampire Police Procedural
Jack Niemczyk is an FBI profiler sent to New Orleans to catch a serial killer who strikes at the full moon and drains his victim's blood. The body count escalates while Remy Lambert, the New Orleans Police liaison, and Jack search in vain for the murderer. Desperate Remy decides to contact the Master of the city and Jack is drawn into the very real, but shadowy world of vampires. At first, Jack assumes they are only gangsters, the mob controlling the city, but he soon learns that indeed Alec De Leon controls the city, but he is not a mobster.
Jack isn't that impressed by Baby Roxton, Alec's wife, a flamboyant red head who dresses and acts like a whore. But it is Baby that he confronts to find out just what is going on and it is Baby that shows him the real face of the vampire. Jack finds himself incredibly turned on by the monster within and begins a passionate affair. Baby marks him as her pet. It is all lust and freedom to be as wanton as he desires. It is seductive and addictive.
More and more Jack gets drawn into the world of vampires. Despite the vampires' help, Jack has no luck finding the killer. Jack's boss wants him off the case. But Jack isn't going to stop. He starts looking beyond the FBI profile and finds more murders.
DANCING IN THE DARK is a fast moving police procedural, although Jack is a little too slow to catch on to who the killer is. I was pretty sure I knew who the murderer was about the middle of the book. Although in a police procedural it is about the search as much as the solution. This book is also a vampire romance, but it certainly is different from most romances. This is no love at first sight, no purity of eternal love, this is pure passion and lust. It is the monster and the fangs that turn Jack on, not the humanity buried beneath the monster. This is no Beauty and the Beast story. It is about the freedom to let go of all inhibitions. Perhaps the reason that Jack is so skilled at profiling is because he has had the darkness, the monster, in him all along, and he relishes letting it out. He doesn't mind a bit being Baby's boytoy, her vibrator with a heartbeat, a kept man with fancy clothes, cars, and a new house. It is rather refreshing and different. The vampire society is definitely feudal, with Lord Alec, Royal Princes, Ladies. Many humans know they are vampires and that they control the city; others are just drawn to the wealth and power. There are a lot of stories about the various vampires, such as Baby's past, hinted at but not fully explored. Fortunately, there is a sequel in the works, which may provide answers.
