The Shake - a noir mystery with vampires by Mel Nicolai
The Shake is a noir mystery in which the protagonist happens to be a vampire who goes by the name of Shake. He and the female vampire, Mio Nagaishi, have an alliance as improbable as their life spans. Cautious and reclusive, Shake avoids any attention that might compromise his carefully cultivated privacy. Mio, wealthy and flamboyant, is by contrast indifferent to the dangers of her own extravagance. One evening, while taking a woman's blood, Shake finds an envelope containing documents related to the unsolved murder of the woman's husband. Normally, this would be of no interest to Shake. But among the documents is the photo of a man Shake has had his eye on for some time; a wealthy building contractor who also happens to have connections to the drug trade. On the back of the photo, the woman has written one word, almost as if to taunt Shake: BLOODSUCKER. This seemingly innocuous coincidence is the spark that will ignite a blaze that will burn through dirty cops, drug dealers, ex-soviet army thugs, a sentimental private eye, and will finally compel Shake to confront a particularly haunting demon out of his own past. Readers have described Shake as "the most interesting vampire since Lestat." If you like vampires, or if you just like a good mystery, you'll love The Shake.
The Shake is a noir mystery in which the protagonist happens to be a vampire who goes by the name of Shake. He and the female vampire, Mio Nagaishi, have an alliance as improbable as their life spans. Cautious and reclusive, Shake avoids any attention that might compromise his carefully cultivated privacy. Mio, wealthy and flamboyant, is by contrast indifferent to the dangers of her own extravagance. One evening, while taking a woman's blood, Shake finds an envelope containing documents related to the unsolved murder of the woman's husband. Normally, this would be of no interest to Shake. But among the documents is the photo of a man Shake has had his eye on for some time; a wealthy building contractor who also happens to have connections to the drug trade. On the back of the photo, the woman has written one word, almost as if to taunt Shake: BLOODSUCKER. This seemingly innocuous coincidence is the spark that will ignite a blaze that will burn through dirty cops, drug dealers, ex-soviet army thugs, a sentimental private eye, and will finally compel Shake to confront a particularly haunting demon out of his own past. Readers have described Shake as "the most interesting vampire since Lestat." If you like vampires, or if you just like a good mystery, you'll love The Shake.