Slayer: Dragon's Blood
Having destroyed his Coven (see Slayer), Alek (a dhampir) has been trying to rebuild his life. However, when he meets Robyn and her son Danny he finds himself thrown back into the world of the vampire. Robyn and Danny are on the run from Edward Ashikawa, the head of the Yakuza.

Having spoken with Robyn about her situation, Alek goes to meet with Ashikawa to try and get him to leave Robyn and Danny alone. However, he finds that Ashikawa surrounds himself with evil protectors, dedicated to defending their master. As he becomes increasingly attracted to Robyn, Alek finds himself, possibly for the first time, facing creatures with strengths that equal and perhaps exceed his own.

Can he protect Robyn and Danny from the Yakuza and find out exactly why Ashikawa is so keen to have them returned?

Slayer: Immortal
Irena works as an exotic dancer called Phoenix in Club Bauhaus, a nightclub owned by the vampire, Jean Paul. On the surface, Club Bauhaus is just an adult club providing for the needs of their particular clientele. However, it is also a club for vampires.

When she is contacted by Mr Bellerophone and offered the chance to move into "serious acting" she sees this as a way for both herself and her young ward, Lilly to make a new life for themselves. After that night's work Irena and Lilly are walking home when she is approached by Bellerophone. She quickly realises that he is not human. He is a vampire. Not only that, he is the Ladykiller, a serial killer. As Bellerophone disables her with a taser, her last thought is for Lilly.

When she later wakes up in a mortuary, Irena realises that her wounds have healed but Lilly is dead. Confused and disoriented she realises that she must be a vampire and decides to look to one of regular patrons of Club Bauhaus for help – Alek.

Having helped Irena regain her strength, Alek explains that like himself, she is dhampiri and she must learn to fight in order to survive. As she studies new skills she becomes driven to avenge Lilly's death. However, as Irena is dead, she takes a new identity – Phoenix.

Dragon's Blood and Immortal are two novellas that make up the book Slayer: Black Miracles. The two stories form a good contrast to one-another. Both stories feature the Slayer, Alek. In Dragon's Blood Alek is trying to protect a woman and her son from a Yakuza and his vampiric protectors. During the story Alek finds himself contemplating the nature of his immortality and begins to question if he is any different to the evil vampires he has vowed to destroy. In Immortal he is faced by Phoenix, a newly immortal dhampir who fully embraces the life of the dhampiri, training obsessively in order to defeat the vampire who killed her young ward.

Karen Koehler's writing style is addictive! Once I started Slayer: Black Miracles I found it difficult to put down. Both the novellas were perfectly paced. At no time did I feel that the action waned, neither did I feel that the stories finished abruptly.

The inner conflicts written into the Alek character give a depth to the dhampir that is often missing in vampire stories. Alek is more than just a neck-nibbling "Highlander", running round defeating the bad guys by decapitating them with his Katana. He is a complex, tormented man that just wants to be left alone in peace.

I have often said that I love to read vampire stores with a difference. The Slayer series are just that. Elegantly written and compelling.