Moon Child

Vampire for Hire (world) #4

by J.R. Rain

Mother, wife, private investigator...vampire. Six years ago federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire.

Now in MOON CHILD, sequel to AMERICAN VAMPIRE, private investigator Samantha Moon is faced with an impossible decision—a decision that no mother should ever have to make. A decision that will change her life, and those she loves, forever.

And through it all, Sam finds herself in a lethal game of vampire vs. vampire as a powerful—and desperate—enemy will stop at nothing to claim what he most desires.

Genres: Paranormal, Vampires, Urban Fantasy, Mystery, Fantasy, Fiction, Romance

212 pages, ebook

First published July 13, 2011

About the author

J.R. Rain is the author of 110 novels and counting. He lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest, where he's hard at work on his next novel... and fighting off sparkly vampires.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 3.5 star ...... well, more like 3.75 star read as it was better than book 3, but not quite as good as the first 2 books in the series. 😊

[Debbie "Buried in Her TBR Pile" · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

Own in: Samantha Moon: The First Four Vampire for Hire Novels, Plus One Novella Samantha Moon: All Four Novels

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moon Child
Vampire for Hire, Book 4
By: J. R. Rain
Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
The books just keep getting better! What would you do if you son was dying and you could change him to a vampire? Would you? At age 7, he would be a vampire? Plus, another child is kidnapped, they thought it was her son. A lot goes on in this book!
The narrator is the same as the other books and this keeps things consistent. She is an excellent narrator/actress and makes this series 'POP'!!!

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Moon Child” is the fourth book in the 13+ book series “Vampire for Hire”. The series is paranormal, and MC Samantha is hetero.

After a slow patch in book three, the series regains strength in “Moon Child” with a solid story, and nice treatment of Samantha struggling with being a good mother who faces choices for her dying son that only a vampire would face. What really shines in book four is the humanity of Samantha the vampire. As she tells a friend: “I’m still me. I’m still a mom. I’m still a woman. I’m still a sister. And I’m still a friend.”

Samantha is loved and lusted after by everyone she knows, and strangers she meets. Ex-husband Danny (the supreme asshole) flirts with her again, and until the very end of the book neither we nor Samantha know whether she is more attracted to Fang the human or Kingsley the werewolf.

Yet another evil vampire makes an appearance, and ghosts and wizards play larger roles, but the focus remains tightly on Samantha and her love for her son. Narrator Dina Pearlman seemed to enjoy this book more than the previous one as well; she sounds right at home voicing Samantha and her world.

With Book Four, we’re not even a third of the way through the series, so there are many more adventures, new characters, and uncertainties over Samantha’s future relationships to come, and I continue to look forward to continuing the series. 4* for “Moon Child”.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this installment pretty disappointing. There were too many easy coincidences, and Sam, who until very recently was still trying to figure out many of her vampire traits is suddenly capable of way, way too much. Holding off an ancient, super powerful vampire? Solving the mystery of the relic in a matter of days, when beings have searched and wondered for ages? She can hold the thing in her hand with no problems at all but when she wears it it suddenly embeds itself? She's out constantly during the day. She really tries to be a good mother, but she practically ignores her daughter and really isn't there very much for her son. And I'm not even going to try to figure out the mood swings. She likes Kingsley. She hates Kingsley. she likes him again. She despises him and wants to never see him and can never forgive him. She likes Fang. She has a strong and ever developing 'psychic connection' with Fang. He knows her every thought, and they can talk to each other, even though he is not supernatural, and they are destined. Suddenly, he is just her friend and she is back with Kingsley. She needs a dance card to just keep it all straight.

No. Best word to describe this is disappointing. Glad I started the series. Glad this one didn't end on a ridiculous cliffhanger. I'm done. I won't read any more of these.

[Erth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this fast read. Sam is quite the superhero. She does do a lot of crying in this book, but with good reason. I like the kick butt Sam best. I'm hoping she drops Kingsly and keeps Fang or possibly even Sherbet. Off to see....Book 5

[Erica Chilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm using my personal copy for BYOB (Bring your own Book) month for Wicked Reads

4 Stars

Moon Child picks up exactly where American Vampire left off, overlapping a few pages, as Sam struggles with a conflict of conscience.

Sam makes a difficult choice, knowing those in her life won't understand. Danny, her ex, and Kingsley think her a monster for doing the unthinkable. But Sam has nearly four days to find the answer to how to unlock the amulet and use the cure on her son.

Sam uses her abilities as a medium to speak with spirits, along with Fang, to find the answer she's seeking, but she finds something much more evil in the process.

There is always an emotional bent to the story, anchoring an Urban Fantasy novel into reality, with real world issues, causing readers to be able to empathize and identify with our heroine.

There are still some mysteries to be had, when it comes to Sam's burgeoning abilities, who Fang is- because there seems to be more to him than meets the eye- and a new one- who is the entity speaking through Sam. After witnessing Anthony having an 'old soul', I often wonder if who Sam is communicating with is an older facet of her soul, the otherworldly version.

These books have a swift pacing, closer to novella in length, creating a page-turning, addictive experience. As soon as you finish one installment, you're eager to read 'just a few more chapters' of the next, only to discover it's the wee hours of the morn, and you've yet again finished an entire installment,

[Eliza Brand · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll start off by saying right off, I didn't finish this one. I think I'm done with this series. I can't imagine any mother that would turn their young child into a vampire, even to save their life. So the motivation from the very beginning the book was so flawed it made it difficult for me to care about Sam's search for a way to some how now cure him. I don't know if she was successful and frankly I don't really care enough to finish the book.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like this story is starting to go off the rails at bit, new vaguely supernatural creatures that defy any description and lots of vamps that just happen to live in Fullerton, CA, even though there are only a few hundred around the planet. (??) I feel sorry for Sam's kids, I can't help it. Her sister is mostly raising them, and I think the author feels like if he inserts one scene of a tickle fight then all is forgiven. Still, an entertaining story, but needs some editing.

[Wicked · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Still really like the characters. Glad there wasn't a cliff hanger. Short. 3.5 rounded up to 4 mostly because I wanted more (especially of Fang).

[Consuela Rossetto · Rating 5 out of 5]

MOON CHILD è il sequel di AMERICAN VAMPIRE e deve essere letto in ordine per evitare importanti spoiler.
L'investigatrice privata Samantha Moon si trova di fronte a una decisione impossibile, una decisione che nessuna madre dovrebbe mai prendere. Una decisione che cambierà la sua vita, e coloro che ama, per sempre.

E nonostante tutto, Sam si ritrova in un gioco letale di vampiri contro vampiri mentre un nemico potente e disperato non si fermerà davanti a nulla per rivendicare ciò che desidera di più.

[Rebecca]

She said Kingsley grew a conscious and was more discerning with his clients and therefore she could date him again but she also said he only did this so they could be together. That’s not growing a conscience if it’s for another person?

[♛rose♛ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the ending

This book short and sweet, super engaging and easy to get into. The story moved fast, which I liked, and it kept me interested the whole time. A great quick read. 4 out of 5 stars.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action packed, twisty, full of moral dilemmas. I liked this one better that the 3rd novel. There was no cliff hanger on the end of this one, which was a relief!

[Chrys Minter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooked

J. R. Rain has did it again. Every book takes me deeper and deeper into this world. I'm loving the series

[Cheyenne Meadows · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this series. It's definitely a different play on vampires. I think it's very creative and fun. I wasn't sure about the decision she had to make in this book but I was hoping for a happy ending lol.

[Matt Schiariti · Rating 4 out of 5]

JR Rain changes it up a little bit yet again...hot on the heals of American Vampire, Samantha Moon is left with a horrible decision..one that will quite literally change her dying son's life forever...Does she let him continue on his predestined path as described in the previous novel or does she use her own vampiric powers to change him into a monster like herself with only the hope that the medallion left to her by her maker MIGHT be able to reverse the vampire curse?

There are no cases here. Samantha isn't tracking down drug lords or kidnap victims. Samantha is trying her best to make a decision that could very well turn her son into what has cursed her life in many ways for the past six years.

Enter her support system. Kingsley Fulcrum: would be boyfriend, defender of the not always innocent. He and Samantha have their problems but he knows things about the supernatural that she can't even begin to guess at. Will he help her in her find the information she seeks about the medallion even though he's not fully in support of her decision? Fang: could be boyfriend and wanna be vamp. Always there for support when she needs him..as a friend..but can they be more? Detective Sherbet (probably my favorite supporting character in the whole book): he's a good detective...a great detective...he's always there for Sam in his way as well but is his intuitive nature starting to chip away at Sam's cover story? We also get a decent dose of Detective Hannen who's like Sam and interesting in her own right.

We also get one thing in this book that's been lacking in the other novels: an honest to goodness arch nemesis type of villain. A mysterious figure with a french accent and a bow tie that's been following Samantha around. He's going to get close to her..too close. He also reveals some things to Samantha that makes her question some of those that are closest to her.

This book, once again, was a lot of fun to read. Even though she's a vampire, JR Rain makes it easy for the reader to relate what she's going through in this book..the self doubt and loathing..the uncertainty about her romantic life..the confusion over her new powers and what she's to do with them.

I really thought hard about how to rate this book. While I enjoyed it a great deal there are certain things that nag at me. I've noticed some oversights over the course of the series. Kingsley said he loved Samantha in the very first novel, but in this one he professes that he's falling for her. In the first book Danny's secretary dumped him and Samantha was happy about that..in the second book he's still dating her. Nit picking for sure but sometimes the state of these characters' emotions can be made confusing by it.

Also, Sam's growing powers. She finally has an adversary that she just can't blow through like she has in the previous three books, but I can see her getting too powerful at some point. There's a certain other series in a similar genre that is written by another author (who I shall not name here) that seems to just get new powers to suit any situation to pull their posterior from the fire. I truly hope that this series doesn't degrade to that. But I have faith in Mr. Rain, I don't think he would fall down that particular pit.

In addition, the handling of the potential love triangle going on with Sam and her two love interests. Without getting into any spoilers (although I'm sure someone's mentioned something along these lines in previous reviews..as usual I'm late to the party!), while it doesn't seem like there's a 100% clear 'winner' yet, one has made some headway in gaining Samantha's heart and the other just seemed to be pushed to the back burner with a 'sorry pal...no dice right now' sort of move. A little disappointing.

Anyway, those are some minor quibbles. Don't let them deter you from reading another fun and witty emotional roller coaster chapter in Samantha's life! Or should I say, un life =)

[Bookmom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Private investigator, mother and vampire, Samantha Moon must make a very difficult decision. Her son is going to die within hours; apparently his life was supposed to be short and Anthony is accepting of it. Should she be selfish and turn him into a vampire to prevent his death? Would he be trapped in a seven year-old’s body forever? Can the medallion that she has and everyone else is looking for really reverse vampirism and make the person mortal again? If so, how? If she changes her son she figures she’ll only have 4 days to find the answer; that’s the length of time before she started craving blood after being turned.

The bulk of the story centers on finding a specific person who might have the answers that she needs about the medallion. We had a cliffhanger in both the 2nd and 3rd books, but this one has a sense of closure. Not for the series, but for the immediate story arc. And it appears that a new back story has begun.

I like Sam the situations and story line as well as the philosophy discussed between characters. But Sam has cried a lot, especially in these last two books. It’s for a good reason, but the fact that “she’s cried harder than ever before in her life,” many times now, feels overdone. I’d think you could really only convey that once for the reader to believe it.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I said I was done for a while but I could not leave a small boy the age of,seven near death. I hate cliff hangers. This book at least kept going on a better course of events, and not jumping around. Sam has solved one crisis, only to be involved with several more. Her own son is quickly running out of time, when another child from the same hospital goes missing.Now she has two children to save again like the last book. Her love life is still up and down, and is on again off again ,with both, still no contact there. She meets a new friend, who is a charming ghost, from the twenties. Her life is nearly ended again. Danny is back to hating her again. a new foe named Dominiqe will be back, no doubt. Shee is slowly making friends, in the para normal realm, Max being one of them. The book had lots of action, for a shorter book. She finally tells her cop, her secret since he has all but guessed. Perhaps, if she can stop jumping around, and be better grounded in purpose, the rest of the series will be good. No cliff hanger this time. Better ending, and rating.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart was a wreck on Sam's behalf with this one and by the end my tears of relief for her sake fell fast and furious, even with all the unnecessary repetition in the story this one was my favorite of the four books.

[Heather turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didnt like this book in the begining but as i read on it all worked out.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, loved it, loved it! Really like Samantha Moon and her family.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books 3 and 4 review

This actually a review of books 3 and 4 in the Vampire for Hire series. I don’t normally do this but because book 3, American Vampire ended on a cliff hanger, I wanted to see how that was resolved in book 4, Moon Child, before I wrote
the review.

The good news is that the cliffhanger was resolved reasonably well and within the world created by the author, believably. The author does a nice job of pacing the action and in character development. I like Samantha, the protagonist, as well as the secondary characters of Kingsley and Fang. The character of the ex-husband Danny, is a bit too much of a caricature of the angry, spiteful husband to make him very interesting but then, that may have been the author’s intent.

Now the less-than-good news. As is fairly common with book series, particularly those that deal with fantasy elements, a certain repetitiveness takes over. In the VFH series, it is Samantha’s all-too-frequent asides as to how freaky or monstrous she is. While those asides may have been needed early on to establish Samantha’s feelings about her vampirism, by book 4,it becomes annoying. I would suggest to the author that she reduce the frequency of those asides in any books yet to be written in this series.

One thing that attracted me to this series was that it seemed to be a bit like Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire Mystery series starring Sookie Stackhouse. While Samantha is much better educated and more sophisticated than Sookie, she still has that Everyman quality that was so appealing about Sookie. Both Sookie and Sam are ordinary women dealing with extraordinary circumstances with grace and humanity. However, that is not where the resemblance to the SVM series ends.

There is a character introduced in American Vampire who also figures prominently in Ms. Harris’s vampire series. Elvis Presley shows up in the SVM series as a not-too-bright vampire who doesn’t like to be reminded of his mortal life while in VFH, he shows up as an very caring, almost fatherly, aging detective working in Southern California. I’m sure Ms. Rain could have come up with another well known Hollywood celebrity to fill that role.

Bottom Line: All of that said, I enjoyed both books and expect to keep reading Ms. Rain’s VFH series.

[Mary Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a rough start which led me to put it down for several days, I finally got back into the book about two days ago. I put it down because I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue reading a child in peril story, and especially where it was leading. I was also upset by a line in the story where God is blamed, and worse, for the situation the heroine is in, and the decision she made because of it. I understood why the author would write the character this way, why it would be one of the places she might go in her anger, but I was upset by the way she expressed it. And as I’ve stated in other reviews of this series, I have a pet peeve that is prominent in the previous books, and this one as well, which is why I can only give it 4 stars. But the story itself was interesting, and the new characters added another dimension to the supernatural elements. I also particularly enjoy the older men Samantha finds herself surrounded by, especially her boxing instructor, and the police detective she must answer to on occasion.

I’m starting book 5 right away, because I do find the Samantha Moon character compelling. She is well written and believable in her role as a (now) single mother, and private investigator, though she’s also a vampire! I find the writing good enough that it’s easy to go along with all the twists and turns of her half mortal, half supernatural lives and responsibilities. I don’t always agree with the decisions she makes, especially the ones having to do with her children, and the times she is there and not there, but I do feel the author writes her in such a way that it feels like an honest portrayal of the struggles a modern woman goes through as a professional and a single parent. Her inner monologue drives the stories forward, and they too feel honest and real. I also enjoy all the mentions of Southern California locales, as I’ve lived here my entire life. It adds another layer to the story, and makes it easy to envision her surroundings.

I recommend these books for anyone who enjoys a supernatural storyline that also encompasses all the day to day issues of modern life.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

**My once voracious curiosity is officially waning**

What has been a steady 3-star rating for all entries (a couple of them even undeservedly so) has dropped down to two with this entry, which I only really read just to satiate the curiosity aroused in the previous one. Given the events that occur in Samantha's personal life, I wanted to see the details of how they'd play out. If there's one thing this author does well, it's ending each entry with an intriguing cliffhanger to lull readers such as myself to come back to the story just to see what shenanigans would happen.

Little did I expect, this entry wound up to be the weakest. While the main plotline from the previous entry was definitely resumed this go around, the journey this time was one of mostly drag and not always compelling. The chapters were sluggish, so much so that I found myself skimming a heck of a lot more this time around just to get through them. The repetition I'd already complained about in the previous entries still reared its head, though not as heavily as before, which was the one "shining" point I came away with when it came to presentation.

While there were mild resolutions and new revelations that I was still intrigued by, several shortcuts were taken to get there (which is ironic, considering the draggy chapters). Not even the ending was as strong as the others, lacking the usual cliffhanger flair. This mostly had to do with the author's "cheapening" of several important character arcs for the main crew, tucking many of them away in the background as if to hurry things along. This was most applicable to Sam and Kingsley, though was still noticeable to Sam and everyone else in her life as well.

Now will I go so far as to say my curiosity has all-out died in this series? Unknown. I do still enjoy most of the character interactions, which have pretty much been the main highlights. But will that honestly be enough to sustain me? Also unknown. I have to admit that with my curiosity in its current weakened state, it's not looking good. How shall it go down? Heavy investing or lots of skimming? Well, let's find out...

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst better written than the others of the series, Samanta Moon still remains difficult for me to like or keep up with as a character. She has 3 men who dote on her at least, 2 children she barely sees and yet despite making herself out to be a good mother leaves them with her sister more than spending time with them. Is still insistent on being overly descriptive of some of her abilities that were brought out in previous books.

All in all despite the better story I still found myself frustrated and not sure if I want to continue with the series. Which annoys me more as I don't like leaving series unfinished.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this entire 15-book (so far) series back-to-back for the last couple weeks, plus quite a few short stories that relate. Free on Kindle Unlimited. It's a great series for a fan of paranormal mystery. The set up is that a mom in California was changed into a vampire in an attack. Fast forward several years and she's struggling with a failing marriage and raising 2 kids with her day time disability. As the years progress, her marriage fails, her kids mature, and her relationships with love interests/ friends/family grow. The characters are relate-able, there's a little humor, and very entertaining mysteries with interesting treatments of magic. Solidly fun reading!

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this entire 15-book (so far) series back-to-back for the last couple weeks, plus quite a few short stories that relate. Free on Kindle Unlimited. It's a great series for a fan of paranormal mystery. The set up is that a mom in California was changed into a vampire in an attack. Fast forward several years and she's struggling with a failing marriage and raising 2 kids with her day time disability. As the years progress, her marriage fails, her kids mature, and her relationships with love interests/ friends/family grow. The characters are relate-able, there's a little humor, and very entertaining mysteries with interesting treatments of magic. Solidly fun reading!

[Sunshine✰✰✰ · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The last book ended with Sam's son, Anthony, hours away from dying and her trying to make the decision of weather or not she should turn him into a vampire to save him. She made her decision as only a mother can. Now she has 42 hours (or something like that) to turn him back into a human before he understands what happened to him. Fingers crossed that the ever-sought-after amulet she has in her possession truly can do what everyone believes. This was pretty much the whole book. There was a little bit of a bad guy and a good showdown at the end but I miss the side jobs as a PI and the good old fashioned beatings of human scum. :-D

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mom’s a Freak

Samantha Moon, mother, private detective, …vampire. Sam’s vampirism proves often to be useful in her occupation as a detective. She can often sense what is in someone’s mind, or where to find things.

Sam’s youngest child, Anthony is dying of a rare disease, and Sam can save him, but should she?

Sam is in the possession of a medallion that can reverse vampirism, but as a newly turned vampire, she understands little about who and what she is.

This was a reasonable story that could ridiculously almost make me believe it, as the characters are three dimensional and the plot solid. Four stars for Moon Child.