What do you think?
Rate this book
Vampire Files #6
Blood on the Water
As a journalist in Capone-controlled Chicago, Jack Fleming is used to blood--even though it's from a vampire's perspective. When the new mob boss decides to rid the city of its friendly vampire, Fleming's thirst for the red stuff gets in the way of his safety.
199 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1992
1 person is currently reading
424 people want to read
About the author
P.N. Elrod
88 books592 followersPatricia Nead Elrod is an American fantasy writer specializing in novels about vampires. Her work falls into areas of fantasy and (in some cases) mystery or historical fiction, but normally not horror, since her vampires are the heroes. -Wikipedia
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 24, 2022
3.5/5
Dashiell Hammett with vampires. This is a criminally under-appreciated urban fantasy series that has a very uniquely classical take on the vampire. The only reason I rounded down my rating was the fact that each book is interconnected to each other meaning that this book didn't really have a distinct beginning or end.
Dashiell Hammett with vampires. This is a criminally under-appreciated urban fantasy series that has a very uniquely classical take on the vampire. The only reason I rounded down my rating was the fact that each book is interconnected to each other meaning that this book didn't really have a distinct beginning or end.
July 7, 2013
I always enjoy reading books in Elrod's Fleming series, and Blood on the Water was no different. However it has been a while since I had read the previous book in this series so I found myself a little lost trying to remember what had happened. Regardless of that I really enjoyed seeing Fleming and Escott take on Kyler who was getting suspicious of Jack's abilities as well as getting in the middle of a mob war. Elrod does a great job with her Fleming character, and in this book Jack really tests the limits of his abilities. Finding out his limits really grounds him as he tries to save his friends as well as himself. Overall the book was a really good read, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Read
November 26, 2020The action continues non-stop from Fire in the Blood. Jack briefly regroups, making sure that Bobbi is safely tucked away, so that the gangster, Kyler, can't use her as leverage against him. A meeting with Kyler to swap the purloined necklace for safety turns into a betrayal when Kyler sets Jack up to take the fall with the police, but Fleming's vampire skills get him out of the situation again.
The plot gets quite a bit more complicated when Jack encounters a whole new faction of goons while on his way to deal with Kyler once and for all. It turns out that Frank Paco's daughter, Angela, has been running what's left of his organization in Frank's name "until her father gets better", and she has Fleming kidnapped to find out what he has to do with Kyler. Jack escapes her clutches, only to return later to rescue Escott, the next kidnap victim. Jack continues to struggle, in this novel, with his moral dilemma regarding losing control while hypnotizing others and feeding on them nearly to their destruction.
Treachery, double-dealing and distrust seem to be the order of the day...er, night, in this novel, as all the players except Jack and his buddies switch sides, lie, cheat and steal from one another. Again, the narrative just ends abruptly, only to be continued in the next book. Elrod had a story to tell, and couldn't be bothered to slow down for a transitional scene when her alloted pages ran out. Just happy she didn't like to leave things on a cliff hanger.
The plot gets quite a bit more complicated when Jack encounters a whole new faction of goons while on his way to deal with Kyler once and for all. It turns out that Frank Paco's daughter, Angela, has been running what's left of his organization in Frank's name "until her father gets better", and she has Fleming kidnapped to find out what he has to do with Kyler. Jack escapes her clutches, only to return later to rescue Escott, the next kidnap victim. Jack continues to struggle, in this novel, with his moral dilemma regarding losing control while hypnotizing others and feeding on them nearly to their destruction.
Treachery, double-dealing and distrust seem to be the order of the day...er, night, in this novel, as all the players except Jack and his buddies switch sides, lie, cheat and steal from one another. Again, the narrative just ends abruptly, only to be continued in the next book. Elrod had a story to tell, and couldn't be bothered to slow down for a transitional scene when her alloted pages ran out. Just happy she didn't like to leave things on a cliff hanger.
September 7, 2025
Getting more and more complicated and tense!
April 20, 2015
This played out very much luck like a superhero story, where a nemesis finds out a secret identity and goes after the hero's friends and family.
Except, of course, the superhero here is just a humble vampire up against a Chicago mob boss in the Depression era. It's enough of a twist to make things interesting, and the book doesn't disappoint—It's action packed the entire way through, with some good 'ol fashion fisticuffs, to tommy-guns, car chases, and grenade lobbing (for safe measure).
Fleming is also very much a traditional vampire (RE: Stoker), with hypnosis, super-strength/hearing/vision, invisibility, and flight in his arsenal. Something like this might make him seem overpowered in a world without Slayers, but Elrod does a good job of not only giving him tough (and multiple) challenges to face, but enough to push him to the edge—To finally overcome his fears and see what his limits really are.
Along with Jack, the side characters are as solid as ever, and there are some great new characters introduced that are strong enough to set the series up for further installments.
Overall, a significant improvement; It's clearly the strongest entry of the second volume. In fact, the previous two books can be skipped entirely, because they're summed up well enough to get to the good stuff.
My only gripe is the somewhat rushed ending, but there's enough meat in this to make me not regret reading it. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes next.
Except, of course, the superhero here is just a humble vampire up against a Chicago mob boss in the Depression era. It's enough of a twist to make things interesting, and the book doesn't disappoint—It's action packed the entire way through, with some good 'ol fashion fisticuffs, to tommy-guns, car chases, and grenade lobbing (for safe measure).
Fleming is also very much a traditional vampire (RE: Stoker), with hypnosis, super-strength/hearing/vision, invisibility, and flight in his arsenal. Something like this might make him seem overpowered in a world without Slayers, but Elrod does a good job of not only giving him tough (and multiple) challenges to face, but enough to push him to the edge—To finally overcome his fears and see what his limits really are.
Along with Jack, the side characters are as solid as ever, and there are some great new characters introduced that are strong enough to set the series up for further installments.
Overall, a significant improvement; It's clearly the strongest entry of the second volume. In fact, the previous two books can be skipped entirely, because they're summed up well enough to get to the good stuff.
My only gripe is the somewhat rushed ending, but there's enough meat in this to make me not regret reading it. I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes next.
August 17, 2008
I guess these are three discrete books, but I read them in one trade paperback. They are fun, fast, and clever, with some spot-on period details. They run together, in fact, like one novel, and the ending of the third is essentially a cliffhanger. They keep your interest nicely, even if they didn't keep me up at night reading.
The descriptions are sometimes a bit dull and I found myself skimming over the action sequences. That could be because my toddler has a cold and I'm tired, though. Also, the lead character is charmingly flawed -- he gets car sick! I love the idea of a vampire who barfs on a car or a boat! However, his two sidekicks -- Bobbi and Charles Escott -- are a little too perfect. Still, minor quibbles with a fun if not brilliant series.
It's a new take on vampires, one that is refreshing after the exhausting sexual psychodrama that Laurell K. Hamilton seemed to have spawned. There was a LEETLE sexual psycho-drama, but it was just a touch and player for horror rather than titillation. And (these three books, at least) were entirely free from the vampire posturing that has caused me to abandon Anita Blake and seems to threaten to take over the Rachael Morgan series.
The descriptions are sometimes a bit dull and I found myself skimming over the action sequences. That could be because my toddler has a cold and I'm tired, though. Also, the lead character is charmingly flawed -- he gets car sick! I love the idea of a vampire who barfs on a car or a boat! However, his two sidekicks -- Bobbi and Charles Escott -- are a little too perfect. Still, minor quibbles with a fun if not brilliant series.
It's a new take on vampires, one that is refreshing after the exhausting sexual psychodrama that Laurell K. Hamilton seemed to have spawned. There was a LEETLE sexual psycho-drama, but it was just a touch and player for horror rather than titillation. And (these three books, at least) were entirely free from the vampire posturing that has caused me to abandon Anita Blake and seems to threaten to take over the Rachael Morgan series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2015
Better than the previous book. It was interesting to find out that Jack's powers had their limits and what would happen if he crossed them. Also, I like it when the books focus more on the friendship between Jack and Escott, their banter is always hilarious. The ending felt too open, though. Yes, Jack's situation was partially resolved with Kyler's death but it wasn't the end of it. I hoped for a more permanent solution with a shift to new plots in the next book.
January 17, 2009
P.N. Elrod can write a heck of a novel but this one... it wasn't as good as the others in this series. Well, I kinda take that back, it was just as good until the last chapter. There just seemed to be something lacking from the ending.
August 14, 2012
One of the best vampire stories I've read. There's a little romance (it's really hard to find a vampire story that doesn't), but it is 90% very entertaining story line. If you like this genre, I would not pass these novels up.
March 6, 2025
Jack Fleming, ace reporter, always had a weak spot for strange ladies. And he certainly should have listened to the one who said she was a vampire! Because when a thug blasts several bullets through Jack's back, he does not die--and discovers that he is a vampire as well!
November 24, 2008
This one is great
February 10, 2010
Vampire Files #6 Back to serial form, with a lot of back-references to the first book--the only one I missed so far. :(
March 31, 2011
#6 fast paced and witty as usual
February 14, 2016
This series has improved as its gone on.
August 29, 2011
The story is starting to slow down.
Read
September 1, 2013The Vampire Files Book 6
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews