OLD SCORES

A modern-day vampire develops feelings for a human in Harrison’s supernatural debut.

Vampire Simon maintains a low profile among the thousands attending the University of Illinois at Chicago. His kind are a secret from humans, so he never hunts UIC students and keeps social interactions to a minimum. Yet he’s uncharacteristically drawn to sophomore transfer Anita Rothard. He fights his urge to feed when they’re together, and the two grow close but avoid the word date. Anita’s father, however, disapproves of their budding relationship, believing there’s “something off” about Simon. While she’s reluctant to side with her strict, Catholic dad, Anita admits she knows little about her new suitor. Elsewhere, Shafax, the powerful “King of Vampires,” arrives in the U.S. and makes a beeline for Chicago. He seeks the blood of Salem, another vampire, who’s apparently killed Shafax’s minions. Now the King of Vampires plans to mete out his lethal plan on his own—an encounter Salem narrowly survives. Salem has no choice but to turn to Simon for help. These two have fought for years, but Salem believes that only as a team can they defeat Shafax. While Simon struggles to keep his world hidden from Anita, Shafax drags the couple into his personal war, all in an effort to draw out his true target. This entails the fearsome vampire threatening one of Anita’s loved ones, which only makes the capable woman want to join the fight against him.

Harrison’s story boasts a sublimely understated relationship. Simon’s romance with Anita is an effective slow burn; he’s wary of “human emotion,” and she has trouble defining their relationship, probably because of her overbearing, religious father. Though readers may see parallels to a popular vampire-teen romance series, the vampirism, as well as the romance, is often subtle. There’s not much on the vamps’ backstories, with a mere hint of Simon’s mysterious origin. Similarly, the story adheres to genre conventions, including bat transformations, aversion to garlic, and crucifixes charring vampiric skin. Harrison fleshes out the characters, such as certain humans who become Shafax’s unfortunate victims. While Simon and Anita make an engaging couple, Salem is the most memorable. He’s cynical, charming, and he flippantly calls Anita “Breakfast,” “Snack Food,” or Simon’s “pet human.” A snowy Chicago is well portrayed: “The light wind blew snowflakes into swirling patterns around Anita as she stared over the side of the bascule bridge into the Chicago River below. A rusted red truss separated the sidewalk from the street, although some passing cars honked and a few kicked up slush in their wake.” The narrative unfolds around Christmas, stirring up Anita’s questions of family and religion. Despite hefty character development, there’s plentiful action, especially in the novel’s latter half. These scenes, spotlighting multiple characters in peril, favor suspense over graphic depictions of vampire-related violence. The ending resolves some of the story, though Harrison clearly has a sequel in the works.

A proficient mix of bloodsuckers and quiet romance.