Joe Pitt is back. There's a new high on the street and it's for Vampyres only. Problem is, a bad dose is like a PCP freak-out and it's only a matter of time until somebody human catches on to what's really happening in Manhattan. The Society enlists Joe as a free agent and sends him up past 110th to the Hood to investigate.
The Hood. Ghetto Vampyres. Need I say more? White boy Joe doesn't get the warmest of welcomes and when he finds out that he's little more than a puppet for both the Coalition and the Society, it's not a good thing. And when he winds up stuck in a racist Coalition woman's apartment and the pieces that start falling into place indicate he's not meant to be around for the long haul, it's an even worse thing. Add in the fact that Joe's got a date he can't break with Evie, his HIV-positive girlfriend, and she's found the bio-hazard bag in his padlocked fridge and is wondering what it's for, all hell is about to break loose.
Charlie Huston returns with another Joe Pitt novel and blasts with both barrels from page one. He's found the perfect voice and pace here: quick, rough and rowdy, just like the Vampyre-infested Alphabet City in which No Dominion is set. More brilliant twists, new characters to flesh out the storyline, returning favorites and a few nasty surprises - the last 30 pages will have you wondering "Did I just read that?" at least twice. Huston starts setting up something big here, and you know it isn't going to finish before the last page but it's so well set up you don't mind waiting for the next book to drop; nothing is left unresolved, but you still know everybody has yet to tip their hands.
Another well-done Vampyre novel. Huston expands on concepts he started in Already Dead, keeps some storylines running and adds in some new ideas. Everything meshes unbelievably tight and there's no real room to do anything but get to the action and establish the story. Like usual, Joe takes more beating than a red-headed stepchild but somehow leaves everybody in worse shape than himself. A gritty, dark, mean-spirited, and negative book - all meant in the best way, of course - made just heartwrenching enough by Joe's failing relationship with Evie and Evie's body failing from the virus it carries, a disease that just may be able to be cured by the Vyrus in Joe's body. Make sure you have the next Joe Pitt novel in hand when you finish No Dominion because you're not going to want to stop.
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Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Del Rey (December 26, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0345478258
ISBN-13: 978-0345478252
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