Once mortal, and a Knight Templar, now one of the Darkyn, Beaumaris is no stranger to battle. He lives in a garrison in Florida, musing about electricity tithes as he tries to keep pace with the world around him. Then he's sent to keep an eye on an archaeological dig - who knows what might be uncovered? Professor Alys Stuart, who's determined to make her name with this dig, has students to supervise and no time to talk to strange security men. And why on earth will Beau only allow work to proceed at night?

Swampy ground means that human burials deteriorate fast and any such finds need to be reported to the authorities and tribal contacts. Alys doesn't expect to find gravesites, just evidence of human occupation. Ground penetrating radar and grids might be the main things on Alys's mind, but she has to admit that Beau, tireless and strong as he does grunt work for her, is just a little bit fascinating. Then she starts having vivid dreams about ghosts, she finds sabotage, and she wonders what exactly is going on behind the scenes of the foundation which owns the land.

There are several titles in Lynn Viehl's Darkyn series and NIGHTBOUND references many characters and situations from the previous books. Suffice to say that the Darkyn, who feed on blood and have a complex hierarchy, have helpers among humans, who are suffering from attacks by the Brethren and who may also harbour traitors. Various objects of power from olden times, such as Emeralds of Eternity, may or may not have been scattered around by the Knights Templar. Yes there is a lot going on, but if you keep your eye on the main characters at the dig it's possible to read this as a standalone.

I enjoyed all the detail about the hard work of archaeology, the very varied characters and snippets about medieval life, when people didn't wash, had bad teeth and went veiled to hide disease scars. Technology aids today's research and Alys, like Agent Scully of 'The X-Files', insists on sticking by science to explain the anomalies she notices. People don't die of plague and rise as vampires do they? Fans of Lynn Viehl will have a great time with NIGHTBOUND and newcomers can read it too; they may well be inspired to catch the series from the start.