I can’t remember exactly when I read "Those Who Hunt The Night" by Barbara Hambly, but I remember buying it from the local library book sale. The pages have a certain scent to them…I’ve never smelled it on a book before, but it was very…old and bookish, if that makes any sense.

For the record, I picked it up, not because it had vampires in it, but because Barbara Hambly wrote it. I’d read "The Winterlands Quartet" by her and loved the language and description so much that this was an instant sell. I’d actually never understood the interest in vampires until I read this. But once I did…I got it. Or at least, here was a vampire story I could sink my teeth into, if you’ll pardon the pun.

The premise of the story is that someone is killing off the vampires of London. Because these murders are taking place during the day, one of the vampires, an ancient Spanish noble named Ysidro, takes a chance on enlisting aid from the human Oxford professor James Asher. It’s great creepy gothic fun and plays with the ideas of humanity. Really, read this for the language, if nothing else. I enjoyed the story, but the simple act of reading it was a joy. And I really like Ysidro because he really gives off the feeling that he isn’t human. Not anymore, and you really an’t fully trust him because the whole while he’s running his own agenda. Whether you survive or not depends completely on his word…and how useful you are. No sparkles or vegetarian vamps here.