Another One Bites the Dust (Jaz Parks, Book Two): Jennifer Rardin

After their last assignment Jaz is pretty sure her boss Pete isn't going to be happy with her. The joke is on her when her next assignment leads to Corpus Christie, Texas, a luxury RV, and three new "operatives"; Bergman, Cassandra, and Cole. A high-tech and highly secretive piece of military armor has been stolen... by an ancient Chinese vampire who believes he is a dragon. Jaz and Vayl have to recover it but Bergman has a personal stake in this as well; he designed the armor. His baby is being ill-used and he wants it back.

Under secret cover as a traveling show for the Corpus Christie Winter Festival, Jaz and company plan to sing, dance, juggle, and fortune-tell their way into the camp of the Chinese vampires. It won't be as easy as it sounds though. There's a whole new kind of monster on the loose and working with the Chinese. Not only that but Bergman can't let his logical mind accept that Cassandra's magic is real and Cassandra won't give him an inch of leeway. Between their bickering and the belly-dance routine that Jaz has to perform for appearances, not to mention the colossal clouds of sexual tension between her and Vayl and Cole's learning how it really feels when you're forced to take a life, Jaz may actually lose her mind this time. The group can only hope that they all hold it together long enough to complete this mission and get the hell out of Texas.

This is Rardin's followup to Once Bitten, Twice Shy and it's a stellar effort. The characters gain in depth and we learn more tantalizing bits of what Jaz really is but just enough to make us want more. Even though Jaz and Vayl, are the focus, the other three fit well and the five characters together make a good group. They support each other but fight like you would expect five fully developed adults to do in such a situation (if such situations existed...). I'm looking forward to the third book with great expectation (read: pacing in front of my mailbox for my review copy).
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Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Orbit; 1 edition (December 12, 2007)
ISBN-13: 978-0316020572
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