Vigil #1: The Blood Detail by Arvin Loudermick

Published: October 15th 2013 by The Concentrium
Genre: Fantasy
Goodreads Summary: “The city of Los Angeles is infested with vampires. I’ll bet you had no idea. I sure as hell didn’t. 

My name is Grace Kimble and I was on patrol the first time I ran into one of these murderous bastards. 

The perp in question had just drunk a girl dry, and was looking to do the same to me. Totally outmatched, I took the only option I had left. I put up my dukes.”

- MY THOUGHTS-

*Copy of the book provided by The Concentrium*

I enjoyed The Blood Detail, first book in the Vigil series by Arvin Loudermick much more than I expected. The short story (The Blood Detail is 78 pages long) is based on the 90’s comic Vigil.

The book tells the story of Grace Kimble, a police officer dedicated to her job. During a patrol with her partner Angela Chen, she encounters a bum whom she initially believes is raping a girl. It turns out this man was actually eating the poor girl. He’s also a lot stronger and resistant than he seems. Grace is proficient in martial art and in top physical shape, yet the man easily dealt with her. In order to protect herself, she shot him twice, but strangely he wasn’t weakened in any way. He was able to flee Grace and her partner, leaving behind him a dead girl.

Afterward, as other police officer dash to the crime scene, Grace and Angie are interrogated by two detectives, charming Mac Douglass and stern Same Racine. None of the two, seem concerned by the death of the girl. Later, at night Grace meet them once again in the most unpleasant of manner.

The detectives and several special units agent break inside her house. They explain to her that the man she wanted to arrest earlier had been lurking around her house and that they were planning to get him. However, he escaped them.

There’s something fishy in the air and Grace can smell it kilometres away. Eventually, the two men tell her the truth. And what a truth it is: the bum looking cannibal whose name is  Danny Ray Jessup is a vampire.

Of course, she doesn’t believe that theory until the end of the book (but it’s too late!). In any case, the heroine embarks on a relentless journey to catch Jessup with her brand new partners.

To be honest, at the beginning I didn’t think I was going to like The Blood Details that much because I wasn’t really fond of Grace. She was tough, strong and witty like a dozen of other heroines I had read about. I didn’t get her attitude and I couldn’t relate to her dream of being a cop despite her father disapproval. 

Besides, the fact that her deceased father was a Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and that he’s basically a legend among the police made me roll my eyes. But since, the book is a novel version of the comics, it’s not as if the author had a vast array of options. 

What truly got me into the story is the writing itself. Loudermilk truly got a knack for storytelling. The lore of the good cop discovering that there are vile vampires roaming lose in his city could have easily ended up being boring or unimaginative, but in this case it wasn’t.

The characters truly lived on the page. Even though I wasn’t completely sold on Grace, her thoughts, her actions and her personality felt very real. So did all the other characters.  The action scenes were also very well described.

I must admit that my interest in the book increased when Douglass teamed up with Grace and attempted to flirt with her. I liked how he tried to get to her. He made his feeling toward her obvious without being too aggressive or too clingy. He was such a flirt and I totally loved him. To my defence, the book did in fact get more engrossing near that part because Jessup identity had been revealed and we learned a bit more about vampires in Vigil’s world. However, there still remained a cloud of mystery surrounding these creatures.

In the end, if you’re looking for a well-written short story with some fantasy  I’ll definitely recommend The Blood Detail to you.