Government agent Jasmine (Jaz) Parks is a cross between
Buffy Summers and Sidney Briscow. A vampire slayer but not
The Slayer, Jaz is still the chosen one as far as
her partner Vayl is concerned. A secret operative with
burgeoning supernatural powers that she is just beginning
to understand, Jaz kicks bad-guy ass and is still girl
enough to worry about her outfit when attending a gala
event.
Vayl, a 250-year-old vampire with a conscience, chose Jaz
specifically to partner with. The why is still a mystery to
her, but she's working on figuring it out. She's working on
figuring out her enigmatic vampire partner, in general. The
duo's current assignment involves a red plague that's been
designed to spread throughout the vampire and human
communities. It's up to Vayl and Jaz to put a stop to the
plot and put an end to the bad guys' apocalyptic plans
ASAP. The bad guys' mission, of course, is to put a stop to
Jaz and Vayl ASAP.
I can't say I didn't enjoy ONCE BITTEN, TWICE SHY, the
first book in a new series featuring Jaz Parks. It moves
along at a brisk, if predictable, pace. But sometimes I
have to wonder if Joss Whedon (writer/director of Buffy
the Vampire Slayer) knows how many of these stories
there are out there now. The man has to be shaking his head
at what seems to be a whole genre of butt-kicking vampire
slayers he's basically responsible for. I guess all the
slayers who could stand up really standing up!
I'm Jaz Parks. My boss is Vayl, born in Romania in 1744.
Died there too, at the hand of his vampire wife, Liliana.
But that's ancient history. For the moment Vayl works for
the C.I.A. doing what he does best--assassination. And I
help. You could say I'm an Assistant Assassin. But then I'd
have to kick your ass.
Our current assignment
seemed easy. Get close to a Miami plastic surgeon named
Assan, a charmer with ties to terrorism that run deeper than
a buried body. Find out what he's meeting with that can help
him and his comrades bring America to her knees. And then
close his beady little eyes forever. Why is it that
nothing's ever as easy as it seems?