The Keeper of the King

Vampires and snipers and lust, oh my! Bennett, who stars as La Croix, vampire patriarch of TV's Forever Knight, and Elrod, author of Ace's Vampire Files series, cut their collaborative teeth on this tale of Arthurian vampires who fight modern terrorism. Richard d'Orleans, tournament champion and third son of a noble Norman family, is recruited into full-fanged vampirehood by the seductive Lady Sabra. After an initiation that perversely mixes sex and blood, Richard gets a new job opportunity as bodyguard to the legendary King Arthur. Bennett and Elrod then blithely skip a millennium or so, as Richard must save Canada's prime minister from a 1996 IRA assassination. In his spare time (while avoiding daylight), he must also find the Holy Grail, in order to heal Lady Sabra from the fatal beastliness inherent to even these comparatively ethical vampires. In their own quest to leave no loathsome stone unturned and no bodily fluids unsluiced, the authors have produced a campy parody of dark fantasy. This wallow in bloodsucking, mind-bending, flesh-rending and incest, told in fulsome, fluorescent prose, depicts such acts as not only acceptable and entertaining but as downright alluring. Perhaps it's an acquired taste? Author tour. (Jan.)