Iron Night

Brennan’s second Fortitude Scott novel (after Generation V) is a funny and refreshing urban fantasy tale. Vegetarian film geek Fort is a fledgling vampire reluctantly coming to terms with his condition. He chooses to wait tables and drive a clunker rather than accepting money from his mother, vampire queen Madeline Scott. When his roommate is mysteriously murdered, Fort is certain that the incident is somehow connected to his supernatural family. Suzume Hollis, an occasionally stereotypical sexy kitsune sidekick, helps him delve deeper into a world of murderous elves who are fanatically obsessed with genetics. Though Fort’s good-natured personality occasionally verges on the absurdly Pollyannish, and all the women he’s not related to have the hots for him, geek-inspired humor and unexpectedly sympathetic characters (particularly the deadly Madeline) help make this a novel worth reading. (Jan.)