First off let it be known I am a Christopher Farnsworth fan. I love the Nathaniel Cade series. The first two in the series were simply great. This third installment, Red, White, and Blood - not so much. RWB just doesnt have the same excitement and pace the earlier stories had.

To start with, we read the series because of Cade, everyone else is in a supporting role. Way too much time was spent building the back story of Cade's young handler Zach. For the longest time the primary character of Cade is relegated to the background,to the point of almost being in consequential.

And, I'm sure the release of the book was timed purposely to sync up with the current presidentail elections. And with that the book suffers from guilt by association. I'm already sick of hearing the stupidity that goes along with a national election. I dont need to relive it again - I read books like this to escape the daily stupidity, not to be hammered by in a different medium.

Then there's the antagonist. In the prior books of the series these characters were scary in part because at some level they could have been lifted from this crazy world we live in - mad doctors, spies gone rogue, etc. In this case the scary guy is.... the Boogeyman. A character we learned to dismiss and laugh at as children.

With the past stories the author built Cade up as a tormented, souless James Bond trying to hang on to a bit of his distant humanity. With RWB the author reminds us Cade is above all things a monster. But he does it in such a way that its campy. He'll suck the blood of a souless, self serving paparazzi, but he draws the line at licking up spilt blood of a dead agent when he needs it to strenghthen himself in order to fulfill his mission of protecting the First Family.

Reading the fist two installments was like watching the 1950's Commando Cody tv serial. RWB doesnt continue that vein. It's like Mr. Farnsworth worked overtime to lose that rhythm this time. The profanity is kicked up a notch without adding any real value.

And once again what's not any where to be found is... Tanya, Cade's vampiric love insterest and protector. Come on, give us more action with Tanya already. Wouldnt Tanya have revelled in Cade's failure to hang onto his committment not to touch human blood? Or would she? Perhaps she would feel a sense of loss of hope once having observed that even Cade could fall victim to the ultimate weakness.

Don't get me wrong... I was really looking forward to this installment and I did enjoy it. It just wasnt up to the first two in the series.

The best part of the book - the ground it lays for the fourth installment. Just make sure Tanys gets some real estate this time.