Review: Vampires are here and cops are on their side
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 9, 2012
Co-authored by L.E. Harner and T.A. Webb, Deep Blues Goodbye is a good old fashioned murder mystery with a twist or two. When vampires came out in the open it was a mistake.In a "my bad" moment, a young vampire was being escorted to transport in the day light, and poof, went up in smoke, right on national T.V.  For Detective Sam Garret things that go bump in the night are still low on his radar, until while attending the funeral of a colleague, the deceased sits up in the coffin, looks him in the eye and asks what's going on.Two years later, and the Paranormal Criminal Investigations Unit of New Orleans has been formed (referred to as the Odd Squad), to ensure supernaturals are protected. Working with a new partner, Sam is handed a case of two vampire wannabes who were staked through the heart and left at a cemetery. Sam doesn't enter the case into the Odd Squad database, since he thinks it isn't supernatural related. Detective Danny Burkette of the Odd Squad thinks differently, and so does the captain, so he is assigned to partner with Sam.  Thinking he needs all the help he can get, Danny enlists the help of Sam's old partner Travis Bouderaux, who is no longer with the NOPD. Sam and Travis' partnership ended on a not so bright note, and they haven`t spoken since. Now the three will have to work together to solve the case and try to stay out of the other's way.The world still isn't sure what to do with the supernatural community, but Sam is sure he doesn't like them, and certainly doesn't trust them. Now, not only does he have to work with the Odd Squad, he has to deal with his old partner too. Neither Sam nor Travis are happy campers when Danny pulls them onto the case, but they are both good cops so they suck it up.These three are all dynamic characters; each could have a full length novel written with them as the lead character and carry it off. Sam's dislike of all things supernatural is tested when he meets up with a pack of very yummy werewolves and his reactions are fun to watch. Danny is dedicated to his job and he certainly has his work cut out for him dealing with both Travis and Sam. He's man enough for the job though, and manages to wrangle both of them with finesse and a healthy sense of humor. Travis was a by the book cop, and retains some of his straight laced demeanor. Danny isn't put off by him and their interactions are full of tension and innuendo. The werewolf pack leader Russ, and Jet, his Beta, are big, bold and in your face characters. I liked both of them from the start.I enjoyed all the characters, even the nasty old master vamp Henri du Champ was fun to read, and the story had me hooked from the first sentence. My only complaint is this is a novella and I would have loved to have seen some more character development. There were moments when, even though I read the pre-quel Altered States, I was a little lost on the dynamics of Sam and Travis. Still, I love a good cop book, the setting was spectacular and the characters interesting, and so I did enjoy the book. I'm actually going to steal from the blurb for my usual warning... "Warning: In this series the vampires don't sparkle, werewolves kill, and sometimes the men have sex. With each other."Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Dual Review Team