Civil Blood

Courtroom drama and explosive action are the hallmarks of Hepler’s fantasy debut about vampires, their legal rights, and the ethics of vigilantism. Infinity DeStard is a member of the Force Protection (F-prot) team in L.A., a secret ops team working for the Benjamin Rush Health Initiative (BRHI). Their sole function is to confine people infected with EBL-4, the disease that causes vampirism. Then Infinity gets infected herself. Running from her own team before they learn her secret, she winds up in Washington, D.C., after seeing a video posted by Morgan Lorenz, who claims to be a vampire and demands to know who’s responsible for unleashing EBL-4. Once in D.C., Infinity collaborates with the local F-prot team, who are tasked with hunting down Morgan. But Infinity doesn’t want to imprison Morgan—she wants to help him. When Morgan sues BRHI, a legal dispute arises as to Morgan’s right to sue as a person, and trouble ensues. While raising thought-provoking ethical questions, the legal portion of the story feels long and slows the pacing of what is an otherwise action-packed paranormal thriller. (BookLife)