by Whitney Grace
Staff Writer
The fifties were a turbulent time and the country was trying to grasp onto a lingering innocence that was quickly fading away as each year passed. For an immortal vampire it could have been just another decade, but Skinner Sweet and Pearl Jones kiss good-bye to one way of life and see another dawn. Pearl’s beloved husband is on death’s door due to his old age and a coven of old school vampires who want his blood. She and a tamed Skinner work as VMS agents put an end to the coven, but they run into an old friend of Pearl’s thought to be long dead. That is only one half of the book, the other deals with a Soviet plan involving the father of all vampires, Dracula. It most be stopped, of course. VMS Agent Hobbes calls on ex-agent Book to help him stop the most powerful vampire in history from resurrecting and controlling a vampire army to take over the world.
Volume five is an exciting mash up of old and new. Dracula makes his entrance into the story, relying on his associated backgrounds to bring hellfire and a whole new drama level for the VMS to deal with. Books also makes her return to the story, ushering in a new story arc along with her son Marcel, who has newly awakened to his vampire powers even if he was turned mortal. Pearl and Skinner are in a similar situation, where they also have to deal with life changes. Pearl must deal with possibly losing her husband, who is also her last connection to humanity. Skinner has been tamed to the point of actually being sweet, except it’s so the VMS doesn’t kill him. Everything changes once the last page is turned, however. Another way to look at this volume is that the characters are saying good-bye to the lives they knew and are hesitantly stepping into a new one. Volume five is only setting the stage for what will heat up in number six.
