If it’s true that interesting writers create interesting characters, then Shadows of Dawn by Jane Timm Baxter proves that she is one very interesting writer. Lila Bishop is a wonderfully interesting vampire whose obsession with tracking down the whereabouts of a body-changing heartbreaker can best be shared by this passage from the book:
*****
“The moon slowly floated through the clear night sky as a hungry raccoon rose on his hind legs and sniffed the air. He lowered himself quickly, satisfied that all was well, and scurried across the hard, black ground that cut through his domain. His whiskers flicked at the vague intuition of danger and alerted his ears to pay attention. Before he could turn his head to face the steady whoosh that sped toward him, the front wheel of a black sedan crushed his skull and ended his hunger forever. The car picked up speed, unsympathetic to its victim, as the motor’s growling voice split the silence. Music blared from the radio as a shaft of moonlight washed over the driver, shining against her pale skin like a luminescent paint. Lila’s dark, blue eyes shone with a tight, blind rage; her primal instincts shooting her along the road like a missile with only her target in mind.
I’m coming for you, she thought as her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Her long fingers wrapping around the
shiny, unfeeling vinyl, she didn’t even notice the sharp points of her filed fingernails digging into her palms. Lila’s expession didn’t change, and no blood fell from the wounds.
It doesn’t matter how many towns I have to rifle through, or how many bodies I leave behind me. You betrayed the wrong
woman, and I’ll be after you until one of us is dead. I’ve been a vampire for too long to let shit like this pass, and I waited too long to find you. You aren’t going to get away with this, Max – or whatever your real name is. Nobody jerks me around. Nobody.
*****
And it just gets better.
But Jane’s book Shadows of Dawn . Start getting acquainted now with Charlene Harris’s replacement.
