Nightshades

[sawyl]

Vampire myth meets the X-File today with Melissa F. Olson's Nightshades. A relatively short piece, the story focuses on Alex McKenna, son of a former FBI director, as he takes up a post as Special Agent-in-Charge of the Bureau's paranormal wing in the aftermath of a disastrous massacre.

The scene is set with a short prologue. SA Gabriel Ruiz is on a stakeout in the small town of Heavenly, Illinois. The situation is tense: a number of teens have been abducted, the BPI have lost four agents in the field, and the entire Chicago team have descended on Heavenly to deal with the problem. A few hours in, the situation degenerates and the agents are picked off one by one. Gabriel Ruiz, the last man standing, finds himself alone in a corn field with a terrifying, knife-wielding shade who introduces herself as Gabrielle.

A day or two later, Alex McKenna finds himself interviewing for the job of new SAC of the Chicago BPI. His Deputy Director needs someone who can hit the ground running and decides that Alex is her man. With the help of Chase Eddy, Alex's fellow agent and best friend, the pair pay a call on Ambrose, the only shade who has successfully been brought into custody and who has since spent his time baffling his inquisitors in best Hannibal Lector style. Alex surprises a revelation out of Ambrose: the name of a shade who might be willing to help. With a bit of planning, Alex makes contact with Rosalind Fredrick and convinces her to join his new team as a consultant.

With Lindy's help, Alex and his team learn a great deal about their enemy. Lindy immediately recognises Giselle's handywork — categorising her not much more than a psychotic murderer, albeit one who is extremely dangerous and superhumanly fast — and comes through with the name of their ultimate antagonist. She also provides a great deal of background on shades themselves — they're very similar to vampires — but is at a loss to explain why they might have suddenly put aside the lurking strategy which has served them so well over the centuries in favour of direct confrontation with the authorities.

Nightshades isn't a complete entity, but more the start of something interesting. There's a certain amount of infodumpage required to get things running — similarly, Alex's breakthrough with Ambrose — but once things are going, it feels like an intriguing world with plenty of background. I particularly liked the rigour of the methods used to contain the world's only captive vampire and I liked the dark hints about Alex' past and that of his mother.