The Vampire in the Iron Mask

Description

For private investigator Spinoza, “missing persons” usually means the runaways, the lost, or the dead. But this time, he’s been hired to find someone who shouldn’t even exist. A young man working at Medievaland—a cheesy dinner theater in Orange County—swears the star of their nightly show isn’t an actor at all. Every night, a “prisoner” in an iron mask is wheeled onto stage…and never unmasked. The staff refuse to talk. The doors to the basement are locked tight. And anyone who asks too many questions gets fired. Or worse. When Spinoza investigates, he finds far more than a gimmick gone wrong. Beneath the castle façade lies a real medieval dungeon, a woman chained in silver, her iron mask welded shut with molten silver. She doesn’t breathe. She drinks blood through a straw. And her violet eyes are pleading for help. Who is she? A captive monster? Or a vampire hunter caught by her prey? Spinoza is no stranger to the supernatural. He’s faced vampires before. But saving this woman means going to war with a bloodthirsty coven—one that’s turning Orange County into a feeding ground. With help from Veronica—a tough, telepathic vampire who owes him her life—Spinoza must infiltrate the coven’s lair and confront a brutal truth: sometimes the monsters wear human faces. And sometimes the only way to do the right thing is to kill. Perfect for fans of hard-boiled PI noir, supernatural thrillers, and gritty detective fiction with a paranormal bite.