The Vampire Maker (Vampire Vow Series #4) » (First Edition)

MICHAEL SCHIEFELBEIN is the author of six books, including the Lamda Literary Award-nominated novels Vampire Vow and Vampire Thrall. He lives in Modesto, California.

Victor Decimus has been a vampire for over 2,000 years. Once a Roman Legionnaire, for millennia Victor has remained a step or two ahead of rivals, would-be executioners, and the mysterious Dark Kingdom, which sets the rules for vampires' existence. Having left New York and his lover Paul Lewis - the vampire he made then abandoned to escape the vengeance of the Dark Kingdom, Victor sets himself up again - with his thrall - in New Orleans.

But in New Orleans, his thrall becomes the point of a new, larger conflict. On the one hand, a local priest seeks to break Victor's hold over the thrall; on the other, the Dark Kingdom fears that Victor is going to become a Vampire Maker - one who continually creates new vampires, while refusing to take his place on the next plain of existence and thus creating an imbalance in the powers of the universe. And between both walks Victor, determined to have his own way, exerts control and remains defiant to the end.

Publishers Weekly

The fourth Victor Decimus vampire tale picks up four years after 2005's Vampire Transgression. In post-Katrina New Orleans, troubled new priest Charles Boisvert tries to purge his homosexual feelings with the help of therapist Dr. Beauchamp. The appearance of distressed yet beguiling young stranger Kyle at Charles's church jeopardizes the success of the treatment. Charles's family and even his immortal soul are endangered when vampire Victor begins a tug of war for Kyle's attentions while the Dark Kingdom, a sort of vampire government, tries to keep Victor from becoming a rogue vampire maker. Scenes of mostly tame gay sex have less of a chance of offending than the intimations that Jesus, called Joshu, was once Victor's lover. Vampire fans will enjoy familiar tropes with a few tweaks, and flashbacks make the episode so accessible to newcomers that returning readers may get a little bored. (Jan.)