Nightwalker holds its own when other popular works have already considered tensions between werewolves, vampires and other fantastic creatures in an urban setting, a sudden threat to a careful balance between established powers, and one woman’s struggle to protect herself and her loved ones when outside forces disrupt the status quo.

It’s convenient that my edition of Nightwalker features a Harrison review on the cover, because For A Few Demons More allows a closer comparison than, say, The Night Watch.

Mira is a centuries-old vampire leader. She rules the dark side of Savannah, Georgia, resulting in descriptions reminiscent of Harrison’s Cleveland setting. In a normal night, Mira maintains order between vampires and werewolves. Her routine is disrupted by a mysterious vampire hunter (Danaus) and the prospective return of elf-like foes, the greater number of whom are kept in another dimension by an ancient barrier. These naturi are like Moorcock’s sadistic Melniboneans, and intend to break the ancient barrier and overrun the world. Mira must rally the surviving two of three vampires who created that barrier and find someone worthy to take the deceased third’s place to stop the naturi.

Her unique gift is to summon and control fire; the power is finite but can be replenished over time. She does make copious use of it in combat, but this potential gimmick turns out to have plot value. This ability could make her the ideal candidate to join the vampire triumvirate and restore the barrier, or a walking version of Harrison’s cursed artifact that either side of this conflict might use to achieve victory; Mira’s spotty memory of a previous battle with the naturi means she learns what her purpose is through the course of the plot.

In stark contrast to the often dangerous but generally helpful friends from Harrison’s novel, Mira’s preferred company are two completely submissive human bodyguards or others likely to kill her. This aggressive, dominant fan-boy fantasy of a character seems to get a kick from her eventual relationship with Danaus and her dubious “protector” in Egypt, either of whom might kill her if they didn’t need her. It is remarkable that the teaser and beginning paint Danaus as a mortal enemy, and despite the progression of the story which shows him to be her most reliable ally, the teaser isn’t misleading; they love each other as much as they long for a convenient time to kill each other.

Most importantly, Drake helps her novel stand out with prose that provides atmosphere without going over the top. The dry humour also helps Mira develop as personable when she seems incredibly pushy at the beginning of the novel.