Lifeblood (Vampire Files, #2) by P.N. Elrod

Lifeblood (Vampire Files, #2) Reviews

• 
  Montzalee Wittmann

  Lifeblood
  (Vampire Files #2)
  by P.N. Elrod
  This is another re-read for me. I love this series and forgot just how good it was until diving into it again! It's a 1930's vampire story with show girls, mobs, and the vampire's best friend that's a PI. It's A short for a novel but contains everything a longer novel has!
• 
  Emily

  2.5 stars
  
  My husband and I started this on audio on a road trip and ended up finishing it together once we got back. I don’t usually do audiobooks in the house, and I dozed off a few times while listening. That might have been because I was in my dozing off chair and not out of boredom, though.
  
  I still enjoyed Jack and Charles together and the tough guy talk (calling people “mugs” and “popping” them, etc.), but I got bored with the story (especially the romance with Bobbi—yawn), and the way the narrator did the baddies’ voices grated on me.
  
  I don’t think I’ll continue the series, but the buddy stuff may pull me back.
• 
  Jan

  Fleming and Escott return in the second of the Vampire Files. Fleming has been trying to find his lost love vampire, Maureen, for 5 years but his new romance with Bobbi has led him to give up the search so he pulls his personals ads from the newspapers. The absence of the ads draws unwanted attention and heck breaks loose when a couple of vampire hunters appear on the scene as well as Maureen's elderly sister.
  
  I really like these books. The characters are very well drawn and the plots are interesting. I am looking forward to the next in the series.
  
• 
  Sam

  I enjoyed this one more than the first book in the series. This was more fun. It had a serious element to it but it had its fun bits too. I was either gripped to the book, wanting to know what will happen next or having a laugh. The vampire hunters were quite fun. Loved learning more about Maureen too. I really hope she turns up at some point. I really wanna meet this mystery woman of Jacks :) roll on book 3
• 
  Titus Hjelm

  Genre crossovers very rarely work--Twilight, anyone?--and although kind of enjoyable pulp fiction, this one leaves you wondering what the plot was and what, ultimately, the vampirism of the main character brings to the story. Too bad I already bought the third one...
• 
  Kimberly

  One of the best vampire stories I've read. There's a little romance (it's really hard to find a vampire story that doesn't), but it is 90% very entertaining story line. If you like this genre, I would not pass these novels up.
• 
  Skye

  Elrod does it again. She takes this great world of the 1930’s with gangsters and mobsters and creates an amazingly fun and intriguing crime story. Which happens to feature a vampire. It isn’t overly heavy handed on the idea of vampirism and Fleming’s new life, but it does make it all about it in its own, unique way. Honestly, I loved this story from beginning to end. It romanticises a time that I’m sure wasn’t’ even remotely romantic, and makes me think of club singers and back door deals and a time before really good security systems (because, let’s face it, none of this storyline is plausible in our current day and age of technology).
  
  Bloodlist explained Fleming’s death and helped him come to terms with his new vampirism. But there is the mystery of Maureen, the woman who turned him. And, although Lifeblood doesn’t answer all the mysteries related to this past love, it does help to explain her disappearance. And honestly, it was a cause and creation which I really wasn’t expecting. And definitely enjoyed.
  
  So far, the Vampire Files stories aren’t insanely fast paced. I tend to pick them up and put them down again. It is really only in the last quarter that it becomes very difficult to put the tales down. This is because of the way in which Elrod uses the majority of the storyline to set up the big finale. It’s a well-paced, fun book and one I can justify picking up when I have a lot of other, more responsible things to do…
• 
  Jon

  In this book, we take time off from our regularly scheduled gangster programming to bring you some blasts from Jack's past that have returned to haunt him once more. While Jack is on an expedition to the old family homestead to bring back some more sacks of his native earth (to sleep on), he notices that he is being followed. When he confronts his pursuers, he finds out that they are a couple of fellows from New York City who know that he is a vampire, and are determined (a la Van Helsing) to slay the foul beast (Jack).
  
  Unable to convince them of his general good will and honorable intentions, he tries several times to dissuade them non-violently, but they continue to pop up at the least convenient moments throughout the story.
  
  Upon his return to Chicago, Fleming receives a message from an old woman, Gaylen, who turns out to be the sister of the vampiress who changed him (Maureen). The old lady fills in the blanks for him - and us - on how Maureen lived, died and became a vampire, but can shed no further light on Maureen's fate after her sudden disappearance.
  
  Eventually, these two apparently disparate plot threads come violently together when Bobbi is kidnapped and one of the vampire hunters killed by Gaylen's allies, who demand that Jack turn them into vampires so that they, too, may live forever.
• 
  Vickie

  I really liked this one better than the first in series. Maybe I felt more comfortable with the premise and era or the characters are even more developed. Whatever is the reason, I enjoyed listening to this. The setting makes it noir in feel since it's in the 40s and the main characters are a private investigator and newspaper reporter and the girlfriend works in radio. There are gangsters and talk of Prohibition. There are several mysteries going on and each one is addressed. Vampire lore gets tweaked a bit, but that's fine with me. I don't follow hard and fast rules and enjoy seeing what others do for their creatures.
  I am looking forward to listening to the rest of the series. I think I will continue listening. It has an old radio show feel to it.
  I can definitely recommend this book, this series and author.
• 
  Alison

  Lifeblood continues the same line of quality as its predecessor,
  Bloodlist. The writing isn't the best, but the action more than makes up for it. Every moment is adventure.
  
  I could have done with a little more worldbuilding in this one. We learn more about Jack's personal backstory, but there's next to no new information about vampires in this world, which is different enough that exploring the details would be interesting.
  
  As usual, my reviews as I continue the series are going to get shorter and shorter because there's only so much you can say about one story, but this one upholds my expectations of the first volume and I am excited to start the next one.
• 
  Iona Caldwell

  I am devouring this series faster than any I have done in a very long time. PN Elrod delivers the perfect mix of drama in a character second only to Harry Dresden in my book. Jack Fleming struggles to cope with the new "changes" in his life which is made difficult when two bungling hunters stay on his trail.
  
  However, as is the author's modus operandi, she throws in a truly shocking twist even I never saw coming m
• 
  Jason Beam

  This was good. I liked that it was a vampire novel that wasn’t horror and instead was a focus on character-driven realism, with an ongoing mystery in the background. I think so much vampire fiction tends to only be horror fiction, even in a post-Anne Rice world.
  Would definitely read the rest in the series.
• 
  A

  I stayed up until 3 am on vacation reading this book, so I can't rate it any less than 5 stars. The characters were fun to follow and I like where the author places agency. I like that Jack has an evolving moral code. There's a fair number of new characters in this and they all feel like very distinct entities. The writing is strong and evocative, not what you might expect from a pulpy novel.
• 
  Alan Villafana

  I enjoyed listening to another story about Jack Fleming. This continued from the first and not only had action, it explored a little more of the vampire mythos within this universe. If you are looking for a good mystery with a super natural twist, this series so far is worth the read/listen.
• 
  Jessica Allen

  3.5 out of 5, fairly entertaining.
• 
  Ben

  A strong continuation of the series. Nothing ground breaking, just well executed.
• 
  Jana Eichhorn

  That was fun. I think I like this series.
• 
  EscaPe iNTo thE PaGEs

  I found this second book to be just as good as Bloodlist. This series reminds me Samantha Moon and fans of that series should definitely read Bloodlist
• 
  Ruth Ford

  Enjoying this series
• 
  Ruth

  18 Grim noire seems to be a genre that I am thoroughly enjoying. This was a short and easy read so much like an original 30s crime/detective story but with a twist. I hope there is a 3rd one!
• 
  Jodi

  The second book in the Vampire Files series is quite interesting. Sometimes it's hard to remember that the story is set in mid 1930s Chicago. The language is well done, it feels like a slice of time. This story was a little slow to get started. It takes place about a month after the first book, so Jack's been a vampire for a month. He's fallen in love with Bobbie, the woman he rescued from the mob, and he's given up on finding Maureen. But when a couple of wanna-be vampires hunters come after him, he realizes he can't give up his search so easily. Although the mystery was very well done, the story dragged in places. For me the key was learning that Maureen, who turned Jack, had been turned by Jonathan Barrett, the hero of Elrod's Death series. I can only hope that we see Jonathan again the future.
• 
  Cheryl

  Lifeblood by P.N. Elrod is the second book in the Vampire Files series. The series is set in a gangster-dominated Chicago of the 30s, and revolves around Jack Fleming, a vampire, and his friend Charles Escott who is a private eye. In Vampire Files #2, Jack suddenly finds himself chased by a series of bad guys, and has to work out who is trying to kill him and why. There are some unexpected twists along the way, and overlaid in the story is the greater mystery of what happened to Maureen, the vampire who turned him and then disappeared. As with other books in the series, the tone is wry, the story is interesting, the premise is intriguing, and the supporting cast of characters add to the fun. This is a good twist on a couple of old themes - noir fiction & vampire tale -- and they work well together. Good fun.
• 
  RJ

  The time is September 1936. Jonathan “Jack” Flemming and his friend Escott continued to dig further into Jack’s murder. Jack’s five-year-old quest was to find his master, Maureen. In the meantime, Jack had begun a relationship with the Chicago nightclub singer Bobbie Smithe. Unfortunately, Jack had people looking for him from New York. Along with those problems, certain types of people noticed discrepancies that drew attention to him. Jack being new to his condition wasn’t as proficient in being incognito as he should have been. His master, Maureen had disappeared, never to teach him what to do or how to survive. Sometimes I think Jack is such an idiot. His boy scout attitude created more problems than necessary. An interesting tale to be sure. It could be worth following through.
• 
  Bryan457

  Jack is settling in to his undead condition, and trying to find his vampire lover, Maureen, who disappeared a few years ago. The search for her is suddenly complicated by a vicious old lady who knows all about his vampire powers, and is trying to capture him.
  
  Not quite as good as the 1st one, but still an entertaining read.
• 
  Joel

  Once again Jack Flemming is deep in the middle of a mystery. This time, the still absent Maureen is at the heart of the mystery and Jack must fight off a pair of would be vampire hunters if he wants to solve the mystery of her disappearance five years ago. Lots of fun; good twist on the current spate of vampire books made better by the realization that this came out twenty years ago.
• 
  Karen Fainges

  Rereading this one as I am going through the series again.
  
  Fond memories of the first time through, looking forward to new ones.
  
  I think the best bit is that he evolves as a person as you go through the book.