{"id":274,"date":"2006-06-19T17:40:12","date_gmt":"2006-06-19T21:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=274"},"modified":"2025-06-29T08:50:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T12:50:36","slug":"the-vampire-files-bloodlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/274","title":{"rendered":"The Vampire Files: Bloodlist"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Vampire Files: Bloodlist<\/em> (1990) P.N. Elrod<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s Chicago, in 1936 and reporter Jack Flemming is investigating a case he takes rather personally–his own death. (I feel like I’ve written or read that sentence before. Strange.)<\/p>\n

I picked up this three book omnibus because we found three later books in this series used. Michael read one–book 7 I think–and wasn’t very impressed. I figured that starting a series at book seven probably wasn’t the best idea, and so found a copy of the first three books together (Three books for one! And I got it used! Deal!) I was far more impressed by the first book than Michael was starting on book seven. Unsurprisingly.<\/p>\n

I’m fond of hard boiled mysteries (in fact I’ve been perusing used book stories for Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane), and I like fantasy, so I was predisposed to like this (now I feel like I have to go back and figure out who wrote the first vampire mystery. Copyright in 1990, this comes a year before Tanya Huff<\/a>‘s Blood Price<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Bloodlist<\/em> is actually pretty good. It has the hard boiled tone down pretty well, and I enjoyed the fact that the story is set in 1936. All three books in this collection are set in 1936. I’m very curious as to whether Jack Flemming moves through time or remains in the 1930s. However, I’m not 100% convinced by the setting. The details are correct, but I found myself forgetting that we were in Capone’s Chicago instead of modern Chicago. Though to be honest, I didn’t mind.<\/p>\n

And as I’ve said previously, I’m fascinated by the way that different writers interpret the vampire mythology. Jack can enter a room uninvited, isn’t bothered by crosses, and can change into a mist, but can’t tolerate food or alcohol, and has trouble crossing water. I like the way that different writers give vampires different strengths and vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

This was an interesting story, and although I didn’t necessarily believe that they were in Chicago, the dialog was fun anyway, and the mystery was interesting. And I’ve already started the second book.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Vampire Files: Bloodlist (1990) P.N. Elrod It’s Chicago, in 1936 and reporter Jack Flemming is investigating a case he takes rather personally–his own death. (I feel like I’ve written or read that sentence before. Strange.) I picked up this three book omnibus because we found three later books in this series used. Michael read […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,291,43,16],"tags":[873,638,546,314,312,872,313],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-paper","category-private-eye","category-supernatural","tag-chicago","tag-great-depression","tag-interwar-period","tag-jack-fleming","tag-p-n-elrod","tag-prohibition","tag-vampires"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-4q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":276,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/276","url_meta":{"origin":274,"position":0},"title":"Bloodcircle","author":"Michelle","date":"June 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Vampire Files: Bloodcircle (1990) P.N. Elrod The third book in The Vampire Files series, Bloodcircle, seems to clear up the last bits of Jack Flemming's past. Jack and Charles Escott decide to travel to New York to see if they can discover what happened to Maureen. I have to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/Vampire-Files-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":275,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/275","url_meta":{"origin":274,"position":1},"title":"Lifeblood","author":"Michelle","date":"June 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Vampire Files: Lifeblood (1990) P.N. Elrod Several weeks have passed since the events of Bloodlust, and Charles Escott offers Jack a part in his investigative services. But the next case they end up investigating end up being a search for the whereabouts of Jack's lover Maureen--the vampire who sired\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/Vampire-Files-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2550,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2550","url_meta":{"origin":274,"position":2},"title":"The Devil You Know","author":"Michelle","date":"September 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Devil You Know (2009) P. N. Elrod I like PN Elrod's Jack Fleming series. Jack is a vampire, living in the 1930s, who works as a private eye, owns a nightclub, and quite accidentally developed ties to the Chicago mob. It's fun, and I enjoy the setting immensely. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/devil-you-know-elrod.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1519,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1519","url_meta":{"origin":274,"position":3},"title":"Dark Road Rising","author":"Michelle","date":"November 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Dark Road Rising (2009) P.N. Elrod Jack Flemming is in trouble. He's put his best friend and partner in the hospital, and the mobsters from New York won't leave him alone. Even worse, one of the mobsters is actually a vampire, and in a strange twist of fate, Jack is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/Dark-Road-Rising.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":324,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/324","url_meta":{"origin":274,"position":4},"title":"The Dark Sleep","author":"Michelle","date":"October 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Dark Sleep (1999) P.N. Elrod I don't know how I messed it up, but somehow I thought that The Dark Sleep came after Lady Crymsyn. This would be wrong. The Dark Sleep precedes Lady Crymsyn. Luckily, both are stand alone books, so I didn't lose anything by reading them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/10\/Dark-Sleep.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":314,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/314","url_meta":{"origin":274,"position":5},"title":"Art in the Blood","author":"Michelle","date":"September 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Art in the Blood (1991) P. N. Elrod The Vampire Files Vol II It probably means something that when I started the first story in The Vampire Files Volume Two I had to stop and think, \"Wait a second. Which vampire was this? Who did he kill in the last\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/09\/Vampire-Files-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}