Daughter of Darkness

The alloy of medical thriller and vampire chiller that Spruill forged in Rulers of Darkness (1995) proves not only strong but durable as this sequel reprises its predecessor's dramatic conflicts. Ten years have passed since detective Merrick Chapman buried his son, Zane, alive in a concrete vault to stop the murder sprees that threatened to disclose the family's curse of hemophagic leukemia, Spruill's clever medical term for vampirism. Zane's daughter Jenn, now a highly regarded intern at a D.C. hospital who's in a happy relationship with novelist Hugh McCall, controls her own vampirism by harmlessly siphoning blood from sleeping people. Suddenly, however, a series of pranks clearly intended to arouse her bloodlust reveals that Zane has escaped and is determined to use her as a pawn against her grandfather. With skill and subtlety, Spruill orchestrates several suspenseful challenges that force Jenn to walk the tightrope between divulging her true nature to unsuspecting human associates or throwing in her lot with her father. His credible rendering of supernatural beings as members of a dysfunctional family with conflicting ideas about how to manage their problems shows a delightfully oddball sense of topicality, yet he is never less than sympathetic and balanced in his portrayal. Despite several stray subplots and an ending that leaves the door open for further adventures for its hemophage heavies, this novel is that rare example of a sequel as memorable as its predecessor. (June)