"Enthralling"

Berkley psychology professor Nigel Jameson is a late attendee at the Sequoiacon Science Fiction Convention, but he is not there as a fan. Instead, the real life vampire (oxymoron) seeks to gain possession of graphic photos that could expose and endanger his race to the prejudices of humans. Convention participant Keith Brewster swears he will prove that an alien creature exists on earth.

Nigel enlists the aid of another attendee thirty something librarian Sherri Hudson, who though she is attracted to him, remains reluctant to break and enter someone else's room to steal the pictures. However, the duo accomplishes his mission only for him to realize from the photos that his sister is in deep trouble. Working together to rescue Laura, Sherri and Nigel fall in love even as she learns the truth about her partner.

SEALED IN BLOOD is a powerful vampire romance that works on several levels besides the obvious supernatural boy and human girl falling in love. The story line is fast-paced as most fans will read in one sitting. The convention details are a delightful description of chaotic fun and the suspense thriller aspects blend quite nicely with the horror and romance ingredients. Sherri is the ideal mix of innocence, awe, and skeptic with an emphasis on the latter. Though Nigel is too perfect an upright moral individual, Margaret L. Carter provides a powerful novel that sub-genre readers will enjoy.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 24, 2003

Summary

Science fiction conventions attract some strange people, but Sherri Hudson never expected to spend a con weekend helping a sexy man in a cape steal photos of a winged alien. When the photographer is murdered, and Nigel Jamison reveals to Sherri that the "alien" is actually his sister, the situation gets intriguingly complicated. Unwillingly swept up in Nigel's quest to rescue his sister, Sherri can't help being fascinated with him. By the time she finds out he's a vampire, the fascination has become mutual...