Killed by a vampire the corpse had lain in the Narrows for three days, fully aware of its surroundings but completely helpless.

When it was taken to the Citadel it was examined and photographed the left in the darkness. When one of its eyelids was forced open it saw Pope Antioch III in fron tof it and wandered what its ultimate fate would be.

Then it awoke and completed the transformation in to a vampire - but not any ordinary vampire...

Soon it became obvious that the Pope had plans for the newly created vampire and it became Harker, the ultimate hunter of Vampires

Slums of Paradise is a complex tale of the war between the two main factions - the armies of Pope Antioch III and the vampires. There are many key characters, each with their own agenda and the interractions between them are many and multilayered.

The concept of the Pope raising a "Super-Vampire" is quite unusual and makes for a nice interplay between the members of the various religious groups, the vampires and the other varied combattants.

However by the time I was half way through this tale I was beginning to find it a little too complicated for my taste. I began to lose track of exactly who was who and for which side the many characters were fighting

Having said that, this is a well thought out, interesting twist on the classic vampire story and should suit those that have gotten a little too tired of Anne Rice clones or the more juvenile Buffy bite-a-likes.

Synopsis
In the twenty-third century the entire solar system has been colonized. Life extension allows people to live hundreds of years. Matters religious and psychic are proved and are now a normal part of orthodox scientific theory. Society is collapsing under the weight of its own division, decadence and conflict.

Pope Antioch III has a plan. He will combine holy relics with technology to change the resurrection of a vampire and create a champion for humanity. It is a desperate move, opposed by most of the higher orders of his own Church and likely to see his execution if the general public finds out. And, of all victims to save, perhaps the man with no past was the most dangerous of all.