The New York City Vampire Murders


Book Description

The novel is about the series of eerie and bizarre homicides discovered in New York City where the police find corpses where the blood has been sucked out of the bodies through two neck bite marks suggesting a vampire attack. With six bodies discovered in six months, was this the work of a supernatural being running around the historic and irreplaceable Americas largest metropolitan super city The Big Appleor someone or something trying to make it look like a vampire attack? After six months, the New York City Mayor decides to bring in more professional help to aide his Investigations Unit in solving these heinous crimes. For the last six months, the Mayor has successfully suppressed these horrific criminalities from the public, but his time is running out and once this knowledge hits the public airwaves the City will go into panic mode; his job will be at stake. The good citizens want safety and will direct their anger and angst at those elected to protect themand he would be the recipient of their tirade. The Mayor finally decides to bring in Detective William Monroe Lincoln, a retired detective with high profile case experience. The New York City Investigations Unit is against bringing in outside help but they have no choice due to the dire circumstances of sitting on an explosive story with so many bodies that have died in such a unique and disturbing manner. They too know that time is running out in trying to keep these crimes hidden from the public. If the top City Administrator is voted out of office the top Police Department administrators are also vulnerable to job security. The various characters and bizarre circumstances of the murders reveals very few clues to help reveal the perpetrator of this evil. With no help in sight, suddenly there is a telephone call by an individual saying hes the Vampire Killer, but this individual is suffering from severe dementia and barely knows who he is. Is he a real clue or just another irrelevant piece of information designed to mislead and confuse the authorities. Detective Lincoln must use his formidable analytical skills to search for the human killer or a vampire running around undetected in the nations largest City. He will meet The Amazing Crystal, a psychic also coming out of retirement to help the City solve the crime. Her insights and suggestions from her psychic connections are general in nature but also amazingly accurate. Is she for real? The police also discover the same strands of hair at two of the murder sites. Is this person the murderer or is it another false lead?




Murder in Vein


Book Description

"Sue Ann Jaffarian never fails to make me chuckle with her three mystery series starring paralegal Odelia Grey, ghost Granny Apples, and now Murder in Vein, starring friendly, and not-so-friendly, neighborhood vampires."—Joanne Fluke, New York Times bestselling author of the Hannah Swensen Mysteries The sight of the blood covered fangs exploded from her deep memory like a ball through a plate glass window. The man had bitten Bobby, torn into him like a barbequed rib on the Fourth of July. Vampires.Vam-pires. Real live—er, dead (undead?)—bloodsucking vampires, living in the City of Angels. Madison Rose, a street-smart twenty-something waitress would never have believed it—until a vampire thwarts a vicious attack against her by appearing in the nick of time and finishing off her assailant in one tasty bite. Madison has been saved by the vampires—or has she? She learns that women have been going missing; their lifeless bodies turning up drained of blood. Now the murderer is after her. As the violence escalates, Madison, LAPD Detective Notchey, and a cadre of alluring and dangerous vampires search for the true killer—while Madison keeps a wary eye on the skittish and thirsty vampires. Will she survive to see the light of day? Praise: "Like Stuart Kaminsky, Jaffarian juggles her franchises deftly, giving each a unique voice and appeal. Her latest series kickoff may be her best yet, blending supernatural sexy with down-to-earth sassy."—Kirkus Reviews "Though Madison is no Sookie Stackhouse, she's definitely a keeper."—Publishers Weekly "It will no doubt appeal to many paranormal mystery fans...[Murder in Vein] is recommended for its likable characters and intriguing plot."—Library Journal "Thrilling, suspenseful, and darkly funny, Murder in Vein will leave you thirsting for more in this fabulous new series."—Kelli Stanley, author of City of Dragons "Sue Ann Jaffarian has added her own inimitable style to the urban fantasy genre. Murder in Vein is fast, fun and, as the cover notes, deliciously fang-in-cheek!"—Jeanne C. Stein, bestselling author of the Anna Strong Chronicles "Luminescent in the night fog, Murder in Vein calls to the reader to come along with its determined protagonist Madison Rose down a road fraught with murder, chills, humor and downright sexy undead suspects. This tale of dangerous things that go bump in the night by Sue Ann Jaffarian makes for a pleasurable and exciting read."—Gary Phillips, author of The Underbelly




Vampires, Dragons, and Egyptian Kings


Book Description

They called themselves "Vampires," "Dragons," and "Egyptian Kings." They were divided by race, ethnicity, and neighborhood boundaries, but united by common styles, slang, and codes of honor. They fought--and sometimes killed--to protect and expand their territories. In postwar New York, youth gangs were a colorful and controversial part of the urban landscape, made famous by West Side Story and infamous by the media. This is the first historical study to explore fully the culture of these gangs. Eric Schneider takes us into a world of switchblades and slums, zoot suits and bebop music to explain why youth gangs emerged, how they evolved, and why young men found membership and the violence it involved so attractive. Schneider begins by describing how postwar urban renewal, slum clearances, and ethnic migration pitted African-American, Puerto Rican, and Euro-American youths against each other in battles to dominate changing neighborhoods. But he argues that young men ultimately joined gangs less because of ethnicity than because membership and gang violence offered rare opportunities for adolescents alienated from school, work, or the family to win prestige, power, adulation from girls, and a masculine identity. In the course of the book, Schneider paints a rich and detailed portrait of everyday life in gangs, drawing on personal interviews with former members to re-create for us their language, music, clothing, and social mores. We learn what it meant to be a "down bopper" or a "jive stud," to "fish" with a beautiful "deb" to the sounds of the Jesters, and to wear gang sweaters, wildly colored zoot suits, or the "Ivy League look." He outlines the unwritten rules of gang behavior, the paths members followed to adulthood, and the effects of gang intervention programs, while also providing detailed analyses of such notorious gang-related crimes as the murders committed by the "Capeman," Salvador Agron. Schneider focuses on the years from 1940 to 1975, but takes us up to the present in his conclusion, showing how youth gangs are no longer social organizations but economic units tied to the underground economy. Written with a profound understanding of adolescent culture and the street life of New York, this is a powerful work of history and a compelling story for a general audience.




The New Orleans Bodyguard Contract


Book Description

This novel is about Detective Lincoln receiving in the mail an invitation to be the bodyguard for an apparently wealthy New Orleans gentleman, Sir Charles Conrad Blackwell. Mr. Blackwell was born in rural Louisiana in the bucolic impoverished creole section of New Orleans. His baptized first name was indeed Sir, a calculated move by his mother to make her child stand apart from his inconsequential and impoverished peers and hopefully to provide him with a constant reminder to strive to be above others in his pursuit of a higher grade of life. Sir Charles had married a relatively poor Caucasian woman, Miss Edna Beaumont, a member of a proper family without proper financial resources for his 1st wife. Edna bore him three children, two boys and a girl. Sir Charles 2nd wife, Juanita, bore him two offspring, one boy and one girl. The children had all the opportunities of upper-middle strata economic life, academically and socially stable schools in a safe environment. The children had memberships in mixed-race country clubs, wore fine clothing, and never lacked monetary resources to attend events or travel. But as time moved on, only Sir Charles proved to be financially successful, no one else. Now in his early eighties, his accumulated peculiar personal eccentricities had caused severe stress among family members and others. The Blackwell household now profusely exhibited Victorian repressed social mores. Sir Charles forces his wives and adult children, similar to the classic Scarlett Letter theme, to wear letters of sins on their clothes when they come to visit and he makes them visit on all major holidays. For those who dont comply, theyre cut out of the will, and no one wants that. So, Sir Charles firmly believes that now, either acquaintances, Voodoo practitioners, former business partners, or family members want him harmed or dead and he requests protective services from Detective Lincoln. Will the guileful detective take on the role as bodyguard as requested?




Already Dead


Book Description

Those stories you hear? The ones about things that only come out at night? Things that feed on blood, feed on us? Got news for you: they’re true. Only it’s not like the movies or old man Stoker’s storybook. It’s worse. Especially if you happen to be one of them. Just ask Joe Pitt. There’s a shambler on the loose. Some fool who got himself infected with a flesh-eating bacteria is lurching around, trying to munch on folks’ brains. Joe hates shamblers, but he’s still the one who has to deal with them. That’s just the kind of life he has. Except afterlife might be better word. From the Battery to the Bronx, and from river to river, Manhattan is crawling with Vampyres. Joe is one of them, and he’s not happy about it. Yeah, he gets to be stronger and faster than you, and he’s tough as nails and hard to kill. But spending his nights trying to score a pint of blood to feed the Vyrus that’s eating at him isn’t his idea of a good time. And Joe doesn’t make it any easier on himself. Going his own way, refusing to ally with the Clans that run the undead underside of Manhattan–it ain’t easy. It’s worse once he gets mixed up with the Coalition–the city’s most powerful Clan–and finds himself searching for a poor little rich girl who’s gone missing in Alphabet City. Now the Coalition and the girl’s high-society parents are breathing down his neck, anarchist Vampyres are pushing him around, and a crazy Vampyre cult is stalking him. No time to complain, though. Got to find that girl and kill that shambler before the whip comes down . . . and before the sun comes up.




The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires


Book Description

“This funny and fresh take on a classic tale manages to comment on gender roles, racial disparities, and white privilege all while creeping me all the way out. So good.”—Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of The Other Black Girl Steel Magnolias meets Dracula in this New York Times best-selling horror novel about a women's book club that must do battle with a mysterious newcomer to their small Southern town. Bonus features: • Reading group guide for book clubs • Hand-drawn map of Mt. Pleasant • Annotated true-crime reading list by Grady Hendrix • And more! Patricia Campbell’s life has never felt smaller. Her husband is a workaholic, her teenage kids have their own lives, her senile mother-in-law needs constant care, and she’s always a step behind on her endless to-do list. The only thing keeping her sane is her book club, a close-knit group of Charleston women united by their love of true crime. At these meetings they’re as likely to talk about the Manson family as they are about their own families. One evening after book club, Patricia is viciously attacked by an elderly neighbor, bringing the neighbor's handsome nephew, James Harris, into her life. James is well traveled and well read, and he makes Patricia feel things she hasn’t felt in years. But when children on the other side of town go missing, their deaths written off by local police, Patricia has reason to believe James Harris is more of a Bundy than a Brad Pitt. The real problem? James is a monster of a different kind—and Patricia has already invited him in. Little by little, James will insinuate himself into Patricia’s life and try to take everything she took for granted—including the book club—but she won’t surrender without a fight in this blood-soaked tale of neighborly kindness gone wrong.




Vampires of Manhattan


Book Description

From the bestselling author of Blue Bloods and Witches of East End comes a new novel that explores the battle between good and evil, in the city that never sleeps . . . Vamprires of Manhattan: The New Blue Bloods Coven You'll devour Melissa de la Cruz's hot new adult novel, in which her Blue Bloods immortals have matured and are now exposed to new challenges, new loves, new threats, and a haute, hot hipster lifestyle. It is ten years after the great War with Lucifer, and the Coven has rebuilt. Leader of the Fallen, Oliver Hazard-Perry, plans to celebrate this prosperity by throwing a 400 Year Ball-and all Blue Blood society will be there. And then, all hell breaks loose . . .




The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters


Book Description

Monsters and shape-shifters have always held a special fascination in mythologies, legends, and folklore the world over. From ancient customs to famous cases of beasts and vampires and their reflections in popular culture, 600 entries provide definitions, explanations, and lists of suggested further reading.




The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vampires


Book Description

Vampires are the hottest topic in popular culture today. From the now classic novels of Anne Rice, to the mega-selling series by Stephanie Meyer to the hit HBO series True Blood based on the bestselling novels of Charlaine Harris, the undead are certainly not dead in terms of books sales. Now, those curious about the history and lore of these creatures can get up to speed in the refreshed edition of The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Vampires. It provides a detailed explanation of the origins of vampires and insight into the fascination they hold in literature and belief. • Complete history and origins of this mythic creature • An explanation of the various rules that vampires exist by • A lively and exhaustive literary discussion of vampires and their importance in fiction




The Independent Film Experience


Book Description

You see them on the video shelves, with titles such as Shadow Tracker, Psycho Girls, and The Blair Witch Project. Skeptically, perhaps, you rent one and slip it into the VCR. Hey, you think, this isn't so bad--sometimes actually quite good. Suddenly, you discover that there is a whole range of movies from filmmakers operating outside the studio system that have their own attractions that the big budget fare can't match. You have, of course, discovered the world of independent filmmaking. A fascinating group of independent film directors and producers, in interviews with the author, discuss their work and the state of the independent film industry at the end of the 20th century. Joe Bagnardi, Dennis Devine, Andrew Harrison, Jeff Leroy, Andrew Parkinson, Brett Piper, and 23 others cover such topics as the increased interest in independent films and how they are changing thanks to high-tech advances. These filmmakers vary widely in age, experience, formats and budgets--and choice of subject matter--but they all have a great passion for their work.