PI Felix Gomez is sent to Charleston, SC to intervene in what could become an incredibly bloody war between two rival factions. But this is intervention with a difference. Gomez is a vampire, the group that's sending him is the ultra secret Araneum, a cabal of master vampires dedicated to keeping the existence of supernaturals secret from human society, and the warring factions are werewolves.

Oh yeah, and Gomez is being stalked by not one but two beings from his past: a vampire who wants him dead and another vampire, an ex girlfriend. All Gomez wants to do is get in and get out and settle things as quietly as possible. That's not going to be easy, what with the way rival werewolves feel about each other and that pesky vampire who keeps trying to kill him, along with any number of additional problems that crop up and which seem to be all part of Gomez's karma. He'll stick with it though, for what choice does he have? Fail the Araneum and they're just as likely to take you apart and use your skin to send messages (write the message on the skin in blood, seal it in a light proof tube and be assured that once read and exposed to sunlight all traces are gone.

This is the fifth book in Acevedo's series featuring Felix Gomez, vampire PI. Acevedo has done a great job with taking the vampire mythos that we all are familiar with and updating it, technologically speaking. This universe features all of the supernaturals we have come to know and love as well as a fair amount of acerbic wit and cynical insight. Gomez, as a main character is no pushover and yet has a heart, even if it doesn't beat. Gomez is also one of the few Latino lead characters in SF and fantasy at this time.

I've really enjoyed all of the books in the series and think Acevedo does an excellent job with plotting and pacing. I also really like that he's not tried to re-invent the whole vampire history just re-explain it in modern terms. All of the books in the series are fun to read, with Acevedo's quick pacing presented through mostly short chapters and a lack of expository rambling. Of all the supernatural series out there today, and there are a lot of them, I would have to say that Acevedo's Felix Gomez series is right there at the top. A sure fire recommendation.