An interesting mix of the spy and vampire genres set in the early pre-WWI 20th century. There is backstory here, and I realised after a while that there must be at least one earlier volume, but the book blurb and list of author's other books gave no clue of that. Anyway, the story is self-contained so it isn't a problem.

The basic plot is the attempt by former spy James to foil an alliance between a representative of the Austrian government and a known vampire: seeing them at a train station, James buys a ticket to Paris and follows them, and a chase across Europe begins. Meanwhile, his wife Lydia, who unusually for the time is a doctor at a university hospital, is concerned after receiving a telegram from him and goes in search of a vampire, Don Simon Ysidro, a Spaniard from the days of Elizabeth I's court. She forms an uneasy alliance with him that allows her to cross Europe in pursuit of James but always too late to prevent her husband falling into traps and danger enroute.

Although there is a large cast of characters the author manages to make each of them distinctive and in several cases, quite horrible. She also makes one or two of the characters, especially the female vampire, Anthea, wife of the vampire whom James saw at the station, sympathetic despite the fact that vampires in this universe have to kill humans at least occasionally: with blood alone, they don't receive the mental energy that allows them to exercise what to us are supernatural powers such as clouding minds so that they are not perceived, and they start to lose vitality.

The few niggles that prevented the book from earning a full 5 stars are firstly a few anachronisms that were jarring to a British reader: James and Lydia are both British, their vampire ally is a Spaniard who has spent time in Britain and Europe, and yet terms such as 'sidewalk' instead of pavement, 'wire' instead of telegram, and giving the time as twenty of one instead of twenty past one have crept in. Secondly, it is a bit silly of the heroine, Lydia, to be so vain about her glasses that she is always whisking them off - if there were enemies including vampire ones lurking about, I think most people would rather keep the glasses on. Thirdly, she is rather self-serving in expecting Ysidro to refrain from killing anyone on the trip and yet be able to protect her and the travelling companion he obtains for her, in the interests of respectability - it is obvious that he is increasingly debilitated without. Considering she is eager enough for her husband to shoot someone at one point, that seems rather hypocritical. Despite all this, I found it an absorbing and exciting read with lots of suspense and vividly described settings, and have been interested enough to order books 1 and 3 of the series now that I know there are quite a few more of them. ( )

Well, bummer. I didn’t enjoy this as much as the first. Lydia got on my nerves with her stupid glasses hangup, and the plot often dragged. There were still some good action sequences with James, and I like the way Hambly writes her vampires, but I think I’ll take a break from this series for a while. I also didn’t like that both Lydia and James ended up crushing on their respective vamps. It felt especially out of the blue with James. Phooey. ( )

#2 of the series. still had some great moments, but i enjoyed it less than the first one. partly it's just the pacing - so many trains, and nothing really happening even when they stop. and partly it's the collision of moral values - the ex-spy James Asher, and the vampire Don Simon Ysidro, and the spy's younger wife Lydia, raised in a monied atmosphere in the Victorian Era. everyone takes ethical damage in this narrative, except for the enormous amount of luggage Lydia takes with her at a moment's notice for her scramble across Europe from London to Constantinople, which never goes missing or gets left behind. ah, the English Empire! but Lydia's point of view, all black and white and taking no personal responsibility for anything, while accurate for a lady of the day, gets very annoying in the trenches, and my sympathy was all for the vampire, slowly starving at her demand while trying to keep her alive as she asked him to do. besides which, the vampire contributes an excellent poem.

Almost as good as Those Who Hunt the Night. I'm surprised that Hambly has managed to make a 9-book series out of this idea, the way she kills off vampires. She's left a huge power vacuum in the Constantinople vampire community which I won't detail for fear of spoilerage...

Apparently she got around that. ( )

James Asher, Victorian, ex-secret service, and aware of the vampires in our midst, sees a known enemy spy in the company of a vampire and realizes that the enemy may be planning to use vampires, to further their political goals. This leads to a chase across Europe, starting in London and ending in Constantinople.

Meanwhile, Asher's wife, Lydia, has determined to come and save her husband. To do so, she has enlisted the one vampire they have worked with, in the past, Ysidro. Understanding the threat involved in the exposure of vampire kind, Ysidro comes.

Adventure, action, spies, vampires, more vampires, and then more vampires still. Including the Master of Constantinople, a giant who wields a pure silver (capable of harming vampires) halberd.

Fun entertainment. Sylvia is definitely more interesting than Asher or Ysidro. ( )