A Chill in the Blood

Vampire Files #7

by P.N. Elrod

During his life Jack Fleming had been a reporter with a nose for the grittiest news, and now that he is dead, Jack is a vampire private eye with a thirst for blood and justice, but he may be the only one in a world of guns and gangs who can stop an all-out street war before it starts. Reprint.

Genres: Vampires, Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Mystery, Fiction, Paranormal, Horror

327 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

About the author

Patricia 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

Reviews

[hotsake (André Troesch)]

This one took a while to get going, and the ending wasn't as satisfying as it could've been with its slight copout ending, but still, this is another entertaining book in an underrated series.

3.5/5

[Kathy Davie]

1930s noir and a vampire with a heart who interacts with the mob.

P. N. Elrod is amazing in her depiction of the time period. You can see, smell, feel, and hear it as you read.

[Jon]

So, Jack has survived the showdown with the gangster boss, Kyler, and now he gets to deal with the three-way free-for-all between Frank Paco's daughter, Angela, the hotshot mobster sent down from New York to settle things, Sean Sullivan, and Gordy, Jack's friend and ally who might be gunning for a bigger piece of the action himself. To further complicate matters, Escott introduces Fleming to a group of FBI agents (think Untouchables-style) who want to clean up the gangs in Chicago, no matter what the cost. Stir in a few crooked cops and you've got a recipe for utter chaos!

Around this point in the series, it becomes fairly clear that Jack's vampire abilities could make most of the conflicts in these books far too easy to resolve, if he's not limited in some way. So, Elrod has him a bit forgetful about making sure he's topped off with blood at all times, making him slow to recover and unable to think clearly when he's a quart low. She also pits him against adversaries who are so strong-willed that they're hard to hypnotize, and he discovers that drunks are also immune to his powers, and she sets up situations where he's unable to arrange a solo encounter with the people he needs to influence the most, so he has to settle for very quick "shots" of imposing his will on them. Perhaps this will develop his character's use of his powers into something more resembling a scalpel than a sledgehammer eventually. He also struggles with his basic "goodness", despite being undead, and is unwilling to just murder the gangsters that are standing in his way, no matter how despicable they are.

So, it seems that we'll see some more personal growth out of Jack. Elrod also begins to flesh out some of the bit players in this drama, like Shoe Coldfied, the black gangster who is another friend and ally of Escott and Fleming's, and we get a sense that there's a big backstory for Escott, too.

Another fun adventure in gangland Chicago.

[Linda]

Vampire Jack Fleming is caught in the middle of a gang war in 1930s Chicago ...

This was kind of a "fill in the blank" for me, since I have already read books #8 and #9. The events in this book take place immediately after Blood on the Water. Since I read that -- oh, about 25 years ago at a guess -- I appreciated the recap of the action in the first chapter.

I like Jack Fleming. He's not as ancient or as suave as C. Q. Yarbro's Saint-Germain, but he fits into the Chicago milieu. He's got "street smarts" and his newfound skills come in handy when people are trying to kill him (again!). And the supporting cast -- Bobbi, Escott, and Shoe -- perfect for the time period.

[Kelly]

I actually had no idea this was part of a set but didn’t feel I missed anything from not reading previous books. The plot was easy enough to follow. There was plenty of action, twists and turns... I just found most of the characters pretty dull or cliche. The ‘action’ got really repetitive, in the same way descriptions, dialogue and characters became really repetitive.

Fine for a quick read but I won’t be picking up any of the others.

[Jessica Lerbs]

Very exciting and, ultimately, satisfying but without being trite

[Jennifer]

Another action packed installment of the Vampire Files. I'm not really into the romance part of this series, so I liked the fact that there was very little focus on Jack's girlfriend.

[Deb]

P.N. Elrod takes her vampire hero, Jack Fleming, through all kinds of trials, as he tangles with Chicago's mob 1920s-era underworld. In this outing, Fleming tries to rein in Angela Paco, the daughter of Frank Paco, now disabled; Sullivan, the New York mob's new guy in town; and his own friend Gordy, the least dangerous (or at least sanest) of the lot. Mix in Merrill Adkins, the Fed who let Baby-Face Nelson slip through his fingers, and the plot-counterplot action boils over.
This series is a fine mix of Noir-ish, hard-boiled crime fiction and the vampire genre, as Fleming tries to keep his friends and loved ones--and his own soul--from harm's way. Enjoyable characters, quick action and a good sense of time and place.

[Kati]

Not really a standalone story, just a continuation of the previous book, so more Angela Paco and Opal and the whole mob trouble. The plot mostly ran in circles with Jack mediating between Angela and Sullivan and I got quite bored with that. The only interesting parts were those linked to Escott and Shoe. I really hope this mob storyline is finally over and the next book in the series will be about something else, something new. As much as I love the characters, it feels like the story is not really going anywhere.

[K]

Another in the solid series of Vampire Files. It's nice to know that someone can write about vampires without focusing on the whole, "oooh, I'm so hot, all the ladies wanna sleep with me." He's a regular joe who has gained some special powers (nearly indestructible, hypnosis) but is struggling to deal with all the downsides...as well as having gotten himself inadvertently wrapped up in business of gangs & mobsters. Fun & easy reads

[Lokita]

Man, it sucks when a childhood favorite fails to hold up in adulthood.

I used to love Jack Fleming. Maybe I liked his angst-ridden struggle to stay a good guy; I really can't remember. But now his sheer ineffectiveness is deeply frustrating. He spends all his time being out of commission due to headaches, bullets, bloodloss, running water, daylight, poison, pangs of conscience, and a partridge in a pear tree.

[Olivia]

I'm not sure what it was about this book but I just couldn't get into it. This hasn't been a problem with any other in this series. And there was plenty of action so I shouldn't have been bored... but I was.

[Cathi]

Actually didn't even finish this one. Just more of the same from the other books. I thought it'd start being individual cases for him to work on, but it's still just him running from the mob.

[Kenneth Flusche]

Good Chicago 1938 trivia, not so hot vampire and mob stairio-type really should start series at begining as seems to start in middle of a story but action picks up and ends resonably.

[Kimberly]

I love this story line. However, I felt this book was more filler (I hope) for the books to come. It didn't really get exciting until after 100 pages in as well.

[Kelly]

Eh it was ok , I kinda had a lot of mixed feelings all through it but it was a new author for so maybe but it just didn't seem like my cup of tea:(

[Christopher Armani]

Interesting read. Interesting style of vampire. Makes me wish I started with the first book in the series.

[Michelle]

This book starts a bit slow, but really gains speed at the end--a fun read.

[Helen Fleischer]

excellent, seemed like a series finale

[Tricia (McAllister) Houseman]

I usually like this series of books, but this one just could not pull me in ... decent book

[Nancy Raines]

The Vampire Files Book 7

[Pam Bales]

Number 7 in Jack Fleming Vampire PI stories, this a a great read for fans of vampire novels.