The delightful third book in the very addictive Fred the Vampire Accountant series ( )

How in the world does a boring vampire accountant get pulled into so many dangerous shenanigans?!

The silver immunity is still a mystery, but he has an elder dragon in his debt. There are rumors abound regarding a vampire who has befriended the head of the therions (were-creatures) in their town, earned the respect of an elder dragon, is dating and agent, has a zombie apprentice that is the wielder of a weapon of destiny, and is friends with a powerful mage and alchemist. It all sounds pretty bad ass, but in truth Fred bumbled or lucked his way into these relationships.

But truth be told, his little group of friends are the only ones who know the truth. This leads to a clan of vampires moving into the territory with the hopes of either absorbing Fred into their clan, or destroying him and taking over. Boy they have no idea what they've gotten themselves into!

Many more shenanigans later, an attack by a rogue vampire hunter, and a trip to a fully parahuman town (which is impossible to get to unless you have clearance, has been wiped from all maps and is a blind spot in GPS), Fred is in a world of trouble...again. A powerful vampire clan has moved into town ins search of the incredible vampire they've heard rumors of, and they have no idea its's Fred. Of course they're interested in Fred because they believe his accounting business is a front for stealing the blood of parahumans. Rituals and protocols bind Fred into accepted the gift of a new apprentice, who is totally a spy sent to learn the inner workings of Fred operation before seducing him.

Lucky for Fred he has an enchanting, living house to help him with a safe meeting space, a place to his new assistant to live, and that way Charlotte, the house, can keep tabs on her. When it becomes apparent that she's figured him out--thanks to shenanigans--Fred is stuck over what to do about the threat of the clan. A conversation with Gideon, the dragon--which was a very bid deal for Fred--where he gets advice, information, and an offer for the dragon to "take care" f his problem, Fred does some major thinking. Eventually outwits and out maneuvers the clan. With unsolicited help from his friends/family, Fred FINALLY starts his own clan in order to protect himself from all other clans. He files all the pertinent paperwork with the powers that be, and becomes a contractor for the "Agency" as an added layer of protection. And all this is done before besting the lead representative of the other clan in a contest of wills which ended with Fred winning the spy the choice to remain with her clan, join his, or go freelance for a while. Of course she chose to join Fred.

Now Fred's motley crew is truly his family. But he's also made an enemy of the other clan...which I hope will be covered in the next installment...which I must go purchase immediately so that I can learn what happens next!!

This review is a mess, but it's late and I'm tired, but I wanted to get it down before sleeping and forgetting any key points as my short term memory is terrible. ( )

Fred's new undead life as an abandoned vampire in Winslow, Colorado has been busy and full of trials but he's settled now, having built a family out of the friends he's managed to acquire in recent years. Even Fred's business as a paranormal accountant is booming, causing him to work both and night and day to deliver on his contracts on time. All in all, other than having more business than he can handle sometimes, Fred is pretty content. As the saying goes however eventually every shoe must fall. When a new vampire clan moves into town intent on filling in the power vacuum, Fred must choose between staying and fighting for the life he has built or moving to a town run by fellow paranormals.

This is the third installment in the Fred, the Vampire Accountant series. My major concern in the first two books is that they read like a collection of short stories rather than one continuous novel from start to finish. Hayes does much better this time around though at times the he does drift into little side stories that don't have much to do with the main plot. Because I find the idea of a vampire accountant who simply wants to do right by his clients and be with his friends so novel, when the distraction happens, it's easy to just go along for the ride, particularly because the distraction usually comes with some sort of ridiculous nonsense which is laugh out loud funny. It is however worth noting that Blood Acquisitions does have a problem with line editing which might be an issue for some readers.

What continues to make Fred, the Vampire Accountant series so fascinating to me is Hayes treatment of gender. Normally in a vampire story, it's the vampire who fits into the role of anti hero and the vampire who is strong enough to induce fear in anyone or anything he meets. Fred, the Vampire Accountant series puts this all out of balance because Fred, with his infamous sweater vests, is never the strongest person in any room and in fact, when the opportunity arises for him to amass more power, Fred turns it down. With the exception of a human female lawyer who Fred absolutely sees as an equal, all the women in Fred's life are significantly more powerful and knowledgeable about the paranormal world than he is. Even Fred's agent girlfriend Krystal, sees it as her job to protect Fred.

What I like the most about Fred is his loyalty to his friends and his clients. When the Turva sets up residence in Winslow, Fred quickly finds that he's running out of options. He heads to see a dragon to ask about other vampires and when offered a sample to increase his power or the opportunity to have all of his problems simply whisked away, Fred refuses. It would be so easy for Fred to have all of his enemies killed, thus assuring him that no other group of vampires would try to set up stakes in Winslow for at least a hundred years but Fred instead considers the innocent vampires who would lose their lives. Even when he's about to forced into making an alliance with Turva, essentially making him subordinate to their leadership, Fred refuses to lean on his much stronger friends because he sees that as taking advantage. He's determined to stand on his own two feet come what may.

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