Book 23, 2026

[chez_jae]

Moon Child by J.R. Rain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


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Monday night I completed Moon Child, book 4 in JR Rain’s “Vampire for Hire” urban fantasy series. The main character is vampire PI Samantha “Sam” Moon.

Samantha’s son, Anthony, is dying. She knows she has the ability to save him, but at what cost? Faced with an impossible decision, Sam puts her faith in the strange medallion in her possession-- one that is rumored to reverse vampirism. However, someone, something else wants that same medallion and will stop at nothing to get it. Samantha has precious few options, and she’s running out of time.

This book focused more on Samantha’s dilemma in connection with Anthony, rather than on any case she was investigating. It also leaned heavily into her relationships—with her children, her ex-husband, werewolf Kingsley Fulcrum, vampire wannabe Fang, actual vampire Detective Hanner, and the mortal detective she’s befriended. Sam loses faith in some of them and puts her faith in others. It added depth to the story.

Two items did bother me:

- The ancient vampire who wanted the medallion claimed he was tired of living and couldn’t be killed by any means. Um, could he survive being beheaded? Incinerated? Smished by a steamroller? Use your imagination, dude! Hire someone to decapitate, smish, and incinerate you.
- The medallion met its fate without Sam (or the reader) ever learning who sent it to her. Frankly, there was such a fuss and build-up made about the medallion from Book 1 that having it go with nary a whimper was disappointing.

Favorite lines:
♦ What would happen if I broke in? Would a wart appear on my nose? Would a she-devil manifest in a swirl of black smoke to drag me down to hell? Would Lady Gaga apparate and give me a make-over?
♦ The man looked like a gnome or something out of Xanth.

Eerie and engrossing, five stars.