A review of The Invoker by Jon F. Merz

THE INVOKER is the second novel in the action-packed "Vampire Lawson" series and begins a few months later from where THE FIXER left off. In this one, Lawson (a.k.a. the Fixer) returns to save the life of a young vampire boy who has unusual supernatural powers, to do battle against a renegade Fixer from Russia, and to destroy a powerful, deadly traitor within the secretive vampire Council. It all begins when Lawson is ordered by the Council to terminate a fellow vampire (Henry Watterson) who's suspected of dealing drugs to both humans and vampires. As the Fixer carries out his assignment and dispatches the drug dealer, the dying vampire states his innocence and begs Lawson to protect his son, Jack. It's only then that Lawson begins to realize that he's been set up to kill an innocent man. The question is why? Hurrying to the dead vampire's home, Lawson detects a team of killers descending upon the house. They're after the twelve-year-old boy that lives there. Lawson carefully takes them out, but not before witnessing the strange power that Jack possesses. It isn't long before Lawson finds out that Jack is an Invoker and can draw the spiritual energy of dead vampires to him, harnessing it, and destroying anything within his path. A traitor within the Council, however, wants the boy so that she can increase her own power, and she hires Petrov (a former Fixer who's been in hiding for several years) and a small army of killers to take the boy away from Lawson. This leads to gun battles, electrical torture, and eventually a chase that will end on the other side of the world in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal.

Author Jon F. Merz has created a new world in which vampires live secretly within human society; yet, they also live by their own set of rules and social etiquette. When a vampire steps outside the parameters set for them and draws unnecessary attention, a Fixer is quickly called in to balance out the situation, usually with extreme prejudice. In the character of Lawson, the author has envisioned a unique type of vampire who plays by his own rules when carrying out assignments. He has a strong code of honor, reminiscent of the ancient Japanese samurai, and can't be bought or frightened by anyone, no matter how powerful or influential they might be. One the things that hooked me is Lawson's background in the martial arts. It's clear that the author is a actual martial artist himself and uses his knowledge to enhanced Lawson's almost mythical persona. I enjoyed the scenes in which our Fixer has to fight in hand-to-hand combat, sometimes using a Japanese bokken (wooden sword) to kill his fellow vampires. There's also the journey through the Himalayan Mountains and Lawson's encounter with an ancient Buddhist sect of warrior monks that gives him a deeper understanding of the Bushido code. I alsoloved the combination of religious mysticism and traditional martial arts in this novel. It not only entertains, but also causes the reader to think about other cultures and how life is lived within them.

Finally, not only is the storyline in THE INVOKER fast and furious, and the main character a different, darker shadow of the standard hero, but the secondary characters of Wirek and Arthur rock, too, with their own special blend of toughness and spiritual insight. These are characters that bring a heart-felt balance to Lawson's no-nonsense approach to solving difficult problems, and are ones I'd like to see again in future books.

This is a fun-filled novel that delights and entertains on many different levels, and is structured at such an incredible pace that the reader may need a wooden stake driven through their own heart in order to slow down the adrenaline rush. Buy this book and then check out the other "Lawson" novels.