Killing Rocks

November 15, 2010
The insubstantial third entry in the Bloodhound Files (after March 2010's Death Blows) has vampire NSA chief David Cassius assigning FBI profiler Jace Valchek to hunt down Asher, the crazy, evil shaman who first pulled her into an alternate universe in which vampires, golems, and werewolves outnumber humans 99 to 1. Sent to Las Vegas, this time Jace has to do without her trusty golem sidekick, Charlie, who appears to be drawn into a war for golem rights. Instead, she teams up with the perky shape-changing mage Azura, a stripper and magical Astonisher trained to deceive. There is little development of established characters or furthering of the story arc, but the action crackles as the characters fall in and out of myths while making and breaking alliances and cracking wise.