I’ve read about monster vampires, slutty vampires, angsty vampires, indifferent vampires. We’ve all seen vampires hunted down by silly teenage humans in cheerleader dresses and vampires struggling with their bestial nature, always wanting to be human. Friendly neighborhood vampires so clean and piteous they squeak and undead abominations so monstrous no one would empathize with them.

So, what was missing from that list? Ah, yes, the Smart Vampire. That’s exactly what Winter’s Mercenary offers. James Damian is witty, practical, unscrupulous and really, really funny to read about. So what if his wisdom score is a bit low for a five-hundred-year-old semi-immortal? It merely adds to the experience.

The prose is fairly well-written and flows very, very well. That has a lot to do with Winter’s Mercenary having a humorous take on things even in the worst situations. It also has a lot to do with the intriguing yet not overly-convoluted plot that has you turning page after page. The protagonist manages to make the reader care for him despite being a villain engaging in a list of horrendous activities ranging from theft to arson to homicide without even a hint of remorse.

There were some things I didn’t like about the story though they are mostly technical aspects or matters of personal preference; The size of the letters might make reading difficult, being too small, and the site is an unrelieved white and dark grey which could use some additional color. The story focuses a lot on a single character and I found myself wanting to learn about secondary characters a bit more than their name and appearance.

But as I said, personal preference. The story warrants a solid 4-star rating anyway.

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