The first time I encountered Victory Vaughn was in Deadtown. Being the only remaining professional demon exterminator in Boston, you can imagine the woman's got a full plate. She's stuck living in Deadtown because she's a shapeshifter and that's the ghetto where the humans prefer the supernaturals to stay. Oddly, she has a normal sister living out in the burbs. Imagine the family tension there.

This time, a killer with a curved blade is rampaging Boston's South End. If there wasn't already enough strain between humans and non-humans, this development is enough to light the fuse. Meanwhile on the home front, Vicky's niece is starting to show signs of becoming a were.

Bloodstone is the third of Nancy Holzner's Deadtown series, after Deadtown and Hellforged. You really don't have to read the previous stories in order to enjoy Bloodstone, but if you are a fan of urban fantasy, you will enjoy reading the series in order. Each novel in this series improves while the characterization deepens and the intertwined plots continue to thicken.