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Two men engage in an altercation in a movie lobby. Later one of the men turns up dead in a New York City alley. But this is no ordinary murder. The dead man is a sex demon and his fellow combatant was Jean-Claude Roué. Now the werewolf is accused of his murder and faces a trial by before a supernatural tribunal. If Jean-Claude is convicted it will mean his execution. Mark Julian is away on a personal investigation in Kenya so Tortego, the crafty vampire chief, goes to an unusual source for help. Using his powers as head of New York City's supernatural community he appoints Mark's human partner, Detective Vincent Pasquale, to be one of the three judges for Jean-Claude's trial. Now Vinnie must not only fight to clear his friend he must deal with his supernatural co-jurists: the werewolf Viola Lupa and the sex demon J. Dale Carter. Both of his companion judges are on record as sworn enemies of "any mixed supernatural mating." Throw in a shifty shape shifter named Andelan Clarke, Ja-ne the original Oracle of Delphi and, a sexy TV newsman from the island of Guernsey who appears to be more interested in Vinnie than any story and it truly becomes "The Case No One Foretold"! ... Read more

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For those who can't get enough vampires, werewolves....read this series.
In our continuing series of Mark Julian, P.I., the author continues to give us the wonderful characters of Jean-Claude, the uber-hunky head of the werewolf clan and his fiance Jaime, a very hot sex-demon who dresses in the style of the fourties(one of my favourite time periods for clothing too!). Vinnie, Mark's soon-to-be-husband isback working after his horrific experience fighting the undead.

But new problems rear their ugly heads. There is hatred between the female werewolf who feels she should be Jean-claude's mate and the sex-demon clan who condemn Jaime for marrying a werewolf.Our werewolf is set up in a murder. Tortego, the vampire from the Spanish Inquistion appoints Vinne to sit as a judge on the case.

Tortego has his own problems with Quan the head of the vampires world wide. One slip and he is out.

Mark has gone to Africa to find Collin and to find answers as to who is involved in the killing of vampires in New York City.

Does it sound complicated? Not the way Kyle Cicero tells it! The ending is excellent with many leads (can't tell) to take usinto another book soon.
There is a surprises waiting for Mark and we see that there are many nefarious schemes afoot to bring down Tortgo, Mark and cause general mayhem among the vampire community.

I recommend this wonderful vampire/werewolf/sex-demon series to any vampire lover who wants MORE, MORE MORE of the undead.

Sneaky little beasties
Another fun episode in the trials and tribulations of Mark, Vinnie, Jaime and the elegant Jean-Claude, caught in the middle of a growing conspiracy of vengeance and duplicity and scheming and -- oh, just consider everything including the kitchen sink as regards mysteries, but with a LOT more wit than Agatha Christie or even Patricia Cromwell.

I've been following the series since its beginning and obviously it's one of my guilty pleasures.Just because my favorite book is "War & Peace" (it IS and I also read "Anna Karinina" and think the chapter of Levin reaping his fields with the peasants is poetry...but I digress), anyway, that doesn't mean I can't have some good mindless fun -- and Kyle Cicero delivers that, in spades.This time we get a long lovely trip to Kenya and memories of another trip there so many years ago.And we get chaos in the courtroom, with judges being manipulated and a guilty verdict against an innocent 99% certain (yeah, that NEVER happens in this country).We get secretive scum who think they're smart but keep finding out they ain't so tough (borrowed that from Cagney in "Public Enemy").We also get the usual assortment of denizens of the underworld doing their thing.It's a blast.

I will say this -- start from the beginning and roll your way through this set...because it is turning out to be a story that builds from one volume to the next and it helps to know what's come before.Thinking about it, the story thus far is only as long as your usual Steven King novel (talk about a man who loves the sound of his own keyboard clicking) and a lot faster paced; it could easily fit into one large volume.Until that happens, grab them all and enjoy every one of these sneaky little beasties.It's a side trip from life's brutal dullness that is well worth taking. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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ReadHowYouWant publishes a wide variety of best selling books in Large and Super Large fonts in partnership with leading publishers. EasyRead books are available in 11pt and 13pt. type. EasyRead Large books are available in 16pt, 16pt Bold, and 18pt Bold type. EasyRead Super Large books are available in 20pt. Bold and 24pt. Bold Type. You choose the format that is right for you.

It?s an essay on old age and death. Its rational and philosophical subject matter is embellished by beautiful language. This book is a luminous substantiation of Cicero?s meticulous emblematic style. It is still popular as Cicero?s powerful commentary over a very momentous issue of growing age with explanatory notes is astounding. Timeless!

To find more titles in your format, Search in Books using EasyRead and the size of the font that makes reading easier and more enjoyable for you.

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The relevance of Cicero's On Old Age transcends time and culture as it examines with superlative clarity the challenging problem of aging.

Cicero brilliantly addresses the aspects of old age and its sociological problems in a manner that is as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago. With Latin text, notes, and vocabulary, this is a valuable text that intermediate students will find instructive and insightful.

Also available:

Cicero: Pro Caelio - ISBN 0865165599
Performing Cicero's Speeches: An Experimental Workshop - ISBN 0865164886

For over 30 years Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers has produced the highest quality Latin and ancient Greek books. From Dr. Seuss books in Latin to Plato's Apology, Bolchazy-Carducci's titles help readers learn about ancient Rome and Greece; the Latin and ancient Greek languages are alive and well with titles like Cicero's De Amicitia and Kaegi's Greek Grammar. We also feature a line of contemporary eastern European and WWII books.

Some of the areas we publish in include:

Selections From The Aeneid
Latin Grammar & Pronunciation
Greek Grammar & Pronunciation
Texts Supporting Wheelock's Latin
Classical author workbooks: Vergil, Ovid, Horace, Catullus, Cicero
Vocabulary Cards For AP Selections: Vergil, Ovid, Catullus, Horace
Greek Mythology
Greek Lexicon
Slovak Culture And History ... Read more

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Under the Big Top gathers together as series of erotic tales about those hot men we fantasize about: Cops and troopers, a jungle lord, warrior kings, macho secret agents and, superheroes.An arrogant young police lieutenant finds an older cop knows how to ‘beat a path to his door’ and unlock some secrets while a womanizing hot state trooper. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

the previous reviewer is insane or something
I don't know what book the previous reviewer was reading but it wasn't Under the Big Top by Kyle Cicero.I've been following Kyle's work for years on the net. [...] .I've loved his characters, the scenes, and how he writes the action.It is graphic and gay.I've reread them many times.And have been fulfilled as well.And I look forward his next work.

fizzle
this book of shorts was mediocre at best. the action was kinda lame and with all the potential that existed for the stories to be tabboo and push the envelope, it failed sadly.
if this book were a horse, i'd take it behind the barn and shoot it. ... Read more

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Cicero was a prodigious letter writer, and happily a splendid treasury of his letters has come down to us: collected and in part published not long after his death, over 800 of them were rediscovered by Petrarch and other humanists in the fourteenth century. Among classical texts this correspondence is unparalleled; nowhere else do we get such an intimate look at the life of a prominent Roman and his social world, or such a vivid sense of a momentous period in Roman history.

The 435 letters collected here represent Cicero's correspondence with friends and acquaintances over a period of 20 years, from 62 BCE, when Cicero's political career was at its peak, to 43 BCE, the year he was put to death by the victorious Triumvirs. They range widely in substance and style, from official dispatches and semi-public letters of political importance to casual notes that chat with close friends about travels and projects, domestic pleasures and books, and questions currently debated. This new Loeb Classical Library edition of the Letters to Friends, in three volumes, brings together D. R. Shackleton Bailey's standard Latin text, now updated, and a revised version of his much admired translation first published by Penguin. This authoritative edition complements the new Loeb edition of Cicero's Letters to Atticus, also translated by Shackleton Bailey.

Customer Reviews (1)

The Orator's Correspondence
For centuries, the Roman model of style in language was Cicero.The collected letters in the Loeb Classical Library series shed an interesting light on the Roman statesman and orator. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Cavete istum librum, amici Ciceronis!
I should have paid more attention to the first review.The contents of the book are not what the cover advertises.However, my experience with the vendor was much better than the first reviewer's.The vendor immediately credited my account and said that they informed the publisher of the problem.

Complete Disappointement
Though covered as anounced, instead of the Complete works of Cicero, what I in fact received was the Life of Marcus Tulio Cicero by Conyers Middleton. I have sent two E mail messages to the suppliers but till now have had no answer. ... Read more

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In what circumstances is it legitimate to use force? How should force be used? These are two of the most crucial questions confronting world politics today.

The Just War tradition provides a set of criteria which political leaders and soldiers use to defend and rationalize war. This book explores the evolution of thinking about just wars and examines its role in shaping contemporary judgements about the use of force, from grand strategic issues of whether states have a right to pre-emptive
self-defence, to the minutiae of targeting.

Bellamy maps the evolution of the Just War tradition, demonstrating how it arose from a myriad of sub-traditions, including scholasticism, the holy war tradition, chivalry, natural law, positive law, Erasmus and Kant's reformism, and realism from Machiavelli to Morgenthau. He then applies this tradition to a range of contemporary normative dilemmas related to terrorism, pre-emption, aerial bombardment and humanitarian intervention. ... Read more

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General Books publication date: 2009Original publication date: 1877Original Publisher: Harper ... Read more

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Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106–43 BCE), Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era which saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially and in his correspondence we see the excitement, tension and intrigue of politics and the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches, delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political, before jurors if judicial, 58 survive (a few of them incompletely). In the fourteenth century Petrarch and other Italian humanists discovered manuscripts containing more than 900 letters of which more than 800 were written by Cicero and nearly 100 by others to him. These afford a revelation of the man all the more striking because most were not written for publication. Six rhetorical works survive and another in fragments. Philosophical works include seven extant major compositions and a number of others; and some lost. There is also poetry, some original, some as translations from the Greek.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Cicero is in twenty-nine volumes.

Customer Reviews (3)

Two Pointed Moral Treatises along with Cicero's Famed De Divinatione
This particular volume contains two Ciceronian moral treatises, On Friendship and On Old Age, while also offering a particularly fascinating work, On Divination, which Cicero wrote to combat popular superstition, also endemic within some contemporary philosophical circles.De Divinatione is unique, for it a dialogue in which Cicero's opinions burst out with brute force. This is evidenced in the expression made near the close of the work where Cicero declares that "divination has been destroyed and yet we must hold on to the gods."Now it should be noted that the premises laid out in De Divinatione also echoed in the works of brilliant minds' ranging from Augustine to Desiderius Erasmus.Overall, these three works merit attention, for Cicero lends us healthy advice on how to live the practical life ethically and the religious life free of erroneous and vulgar superstition. [As an appendix to On Divination, Cicero composed the treatise concerning Fate, which remains only in fragments but may be found in the LCL (349) and asks to be read after On Divintion].

Old good taste of an epoch unfortunatelly gone
The Loeb Library is a luxus for all classicists, since it offers good, cheap and easy-to-buy editions of almost every ancient author. The translations are accurate and enable to follow the original text in difficult passages without disturbing, if one wants just to read the Latin or Greek text. So it is most to recommend in general. Especially I must praise the volume under review, because the translator was not a classical scholar or a professor, but a lawyer who published the book after reading and translating the treatise On Old Age by Cicero to an old relative who was very ill in bed and died not much later. That is why this book brings to me the good taste of a better epoch in which Latin was part of the life of a cultivated man. If we want to preserve our civilization, and if this word means anything at all, we should ask for Latin to recover the place it used to have in education.

Cicero on Old Age, Friendship, and Divination
I'm unable to write a review, but I am more than pleased with my little book.There is no doubt that Cicero was a remarkable man who wrote amazing words of wisdom.he makes you THINK!And its one book which I'll always have beside me.
Thank you so much.Pauline Black ... Read more

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Historical Sketches, Volume I (of 3) - The Turks in Their Relation to Europe; Marcus Tullius Cicero; Apollonius of Tyana; Primitive Christianity is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by John Henry Newman is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of John Henry Newman then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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A valiant knight and a rebel prince each falls into the hands of their enemies who will subject them both to acts of depravity that are designed to sexual break them into submission. A professor creates a machine which he hopes will allow him to transfer some of a jock?s confidence into a nerd only to find the results he conceived pan out in ways he never planned. A haughty model and an ultimate fighter each discover that their macho struttingmay not always prevail and finally, two writers of erotic mind-control tales engage in a mental duel that will leave them both very different than when they first started. ... Read more

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This work contains two of Cicero's most important political writings, "The Republic" (De re publica) and "The Laws" (De Legibus). In "The Republic", or "On the Commonwealth", Cicero crafts a Socratic dialogue in six books on the subject of Roman politics. Cicero discusses the history of Roman politics and its constitution, the role of justice in government, the types of constitutions, the role of education, and the ideal citizen in a republic. In "The Laws" we find another Socratic dialogue which discusses the laws and in which Cicero expounds on his theories of natural law and of harmony among the classes. Only three books of "The Laws" remain from an indeterminate number that were originally written. Together these books will enlighten the reader as to the foundation of Cicero's political philosophy and give one insight into the early democratic ideals which form the foundation of western political thought. ... Read more

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In this close examination of the social and political thought of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.), Neal Wood focuses on Cicero's conceptions of state and government, showing that he is the father of constitutionalism, the archetype of the politically conservative mind, and the first to reflect extensively on politics as an activity. ... Read more

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An overview of Cicero's writings on society and government.
In this work, Neal Wood presents a compelling overview of the writings of Roman lawyer, statesman and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero.Supporting his analysis with concise quotations from Cicero, Wood undertakes thedaunting task of summarizing Tullian thought on law, justice, human nature,equality, private property, the state, the mixed constitution and politics. Despite the challenge to this endeavor posed by the manyinconsistencies and ambiguitites in Cicero's philosophy, Wood succeedsadmirably.He makes it easy for any reader to understand why Locke,Montesquieu, Jefferson, Adams, Madison and so many other proponents ofliberty hold such high esteem for Cicero as the "first master of theworld." ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Cicero or Maxwell Smart?
Richar Wires does himself most admirably here,in placing 'Cicero' in a wider focus, enlarging one's knowledge of WWII espionage significantly.As much as I enjoyed "The Cicero Affair" and "Five Fingers," to be without the depth and understanding of the principals in this spy episode is like viewing the Mona Lisa only on TV. The overall effect is to add brilliant color to a prized black-and-white photo. Not only are you left with a deeper understanding of wartime espionage but a respectful regard for the diplomatic corps at that period. Who could believe that an amateur servant, with the right impulse, and appropriate acting bravadoes, could upset several continents, and get his just desserts? Or did he? This was an engrossing read, a combination treasure-hunt for clues weighed against fact that is hard to put down. 50 years later the WWII victor, USA, chooses to believe the documents presented before Congress by its internal security watchdogs. Go figure.

Lessons from Deception:The Turkish Spy Case
This is not a neutral, unbiased review.Even before finishing The Cicero Spy Affair:German Access to British Secrets in World War II, I'd bought second and third copies to forward to author and scholar par excellence Richard Wires for autographing and forwarding to relatives as gifts.Howmany other reviews posted on this website -- or any other, for that matter-- are based on a copy of the subject volume autographed by the author athis home?I bet very few.This review is an appreciation, really.If youlike the numerous excerpts I've included below, you will have to get thebook to get more, as this is only a sampling.

I met Dr. Wires at BallState University in 1975, when I was a European history major working forhim as a student assistant when he was chairman of the history department. Four years later, he supervised my senior thesis in European intellectualhistory on Nietzscke, Malraux and Jaspers.Over the last twenty years,we've stayed in touch though postcards during travels, home visits, phonecalls and letters.He is a quintessential intellectual whose history ofthe most remarkable spy episode during WW II, if not ever, warrants onlyone - and even that is tongue-in-cheek - criticism:stylisticinconsistency.Specifically, the book is only elegantly written where itis not eloquent.A typical passages of the latter characteristicare:

"In the extensive literature about espionage affairs andintelligence activities during World War II the episode known as Operation"Cicero" has gained prominence and popularity, because of its remarkablecharacter and ironies.For more than four months during the winter of1943-1944 the valet of Britain's ambassador in neutral Turkey photographedsecret papers that his employer failed to safeguard properly; by sellinghis undeveloped films to a representative of German intelligence in Ankarafor a reported total of $1.2 million the servant became history's then mosthighly paid spy.The access to one of its opponents' most importantembassies marked Germany's outstanding achievement in an otherwise poorrecord of secret service work.But little came of the success.Many ofthe documents were extremely valuable, but the dictatorship never used theinformation effectively; the enterprising spy escaped being caught but soondiscovered that his money was mostly counterfeit."

The prominenceand popularity of the literature about Elyesa Bagna, a Turkish kavass, orvalet, who brazenly photographed secret papers of Britain's ambassador toneutral Turkey and sold the rolls of film to a handler at the Germanembassy for $1.2 million in what mostly turned out to be bogus poundsduring the height of WW II is extraordinary and "has become a staple ofintelligence lore."Fortunately, the Germans made little effective use oftheir intelligence lodestar, owing to the intrinsic rivalries, conflictsand jealousies of Nazi totalitarianism, a maze of party, military andcareer figures, including ambassador and one-time Weimar chancellor Franzvon Papen, one of the nearly-purged non-Nazis outmaneuvered at the onset ofHitler's takeover of Germany's interwar democratic attempt in 1933.Ciceroeven inspired a 1952 movie, Five Fingers, portrayed as a documentary thatfalsely shows German knowledge of D-Day (in truth, the Germans only learnedthe word "Overlord," meaning little more than a second Allied front againstsome target in the northwest part of so-called "Fortress Europe," i.e., theGerman occupied nations of the continent).

The legacy of the affair is inthe lessons learned and the embarrassment of the British reluctantly comingto terms with the scope of the compromises even today, as demonstrated bythe sluggish sales of The Cicero Spy Affair in the U.K.In the U.S.,however, some stores have sold out their initial stock and each speakingengagement by the author generates further opportunities for spoken historytelling, one of the highest praises a historian can receive.

Nearlytwenty five years ago, a college history professor sitting next to me at aformal lecture by Dr. Wires said he was the only person he'd ever met whocould write a speech, read it verbatim as an oration, and hold theaudience's rapt attention as he infused us with knowledge, insight andexpansion of whatever we knew, or thought we knew, to newer, higher levels. This reader genuinely "heard" the author on every page of The Cicero SpyAffair.

Writing accurate history requires meeting an exacting standard;Dr. Wires has exceeded it, though.Chief Justice Rehnquist demonstratedthe difficulties in meeting this standard when he recently said that, ifyou think you know a subject, write a book on it and read the reviews.TheChief Justice's referenced book mentioned the dates of admission to theunion of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, all wrong!He also referenced aConfederate who kept fighting after Appomattox who, in truth, fell atShiloh three years earlier.The comment by the Chief Justice, who iscertainly not mistake-prone but, rather, is blessed with a wry, dry senseof humor, illustrates the demanding standard of the historian's blend ofcraft, science and art.Even the most accomplished researcher can stillerr, but The Cicero Spy Affair appears, by all accounts, to bedefinitive.

Still not convinced you should read it?Your loss.Sayyou're not a twentieth century history, military intelligence specialist,read it anyway.Read it for its comprehensive research, documentation,analysis and explanations, and accompanying insightful photographs.Itspassages on the vacillations and evasions of Europe's key neutral country,in light of Allied, Nazi and Soviet influences, the (thankfully)inefficient competitiveness of the German intelligence offices and theineptitude of British security as a result of sleeping pills, piano playingand extremely careless handling of very secret writings all will amaze,enrich, entertain and astonish you.Read it. ... Read more

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The modern traveller of today arriving at Rome by rail drives to his hotel through the uninteresting streets of a modern townand thence finds his way to the Forum and the Palatinewhere his attention is speedily absorbed by excavations which he finds it difficult to understand. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Terrible
Terrible book. Reprint and a terrible reproduction of whatever?? original looked like-author knows little about the Roman Republic.

Great info on ancient Rome
This book gives a very detailed description of Roman society in the last century B. C. E. The book starts with a tour of the city, and then has chapters on business, education, slavery, holidays and much more. The table of contents tells exactly what is in each chapter, but it isn't active, and footnotes are at the end of the book. Most of the book is about the upper class because, as the author says, there just wasn't much written about the lower classes at the time, so not much is known. It doesn't say when the book was written, but going by the author's dates it must be from the late 19th or early 20th century. ... Read more

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Cicero placed a high value on the importance of mastering the skill of rhetoric, which is the art of using language as a means to persuade. Such a skill was important especially in the practice of law and politics, of which he did both. In the "Treatise of Rhetorical Invention" Cicero outlines his theories on rhetoric in this early composition. In "Topics" we find an exposition of the tools that an orator may avail himself of in crafting a convincing argument. Cicero is thought of as one of the greatest orators of all time and it is due in no small part to his mastery of rhetoric. This collection, translated by C. D. Yonge, will give the reader great insight into the skill of rhetoric as it was thought of and practiced by an early master of the skill. ... Read more

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Originally published in 1888.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

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Werewolves assigned to New York City's supernatural security forces are being snatched while on patrols with their new vampire partners. Worse, these vampires are unable to explain to anyone how the events occurred. Jean-Claude, the new chief executive of the supernatural council, is stuck in the middle of this rising tension. He ordered these "mixed" patrols, yet now it seems to be going horribly wrong. Someone has to step in to stop the disappearances and find the missing werewolves. Unfortunately that someone cannot be Mark Julian since Jean-Claude fears having a vampire investigate the matter would only add to the werewolves' fury. The circumstances are dire as a war threatens to erupt. Jaime, the shape-shifting sex demon wife of Jean Claude, decides to step into the case. To do so she must reach out to her worst enemy for assistance. She understands the delicate situation but is convinced a solution only needs just the right Feminine Touch. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

What is Happening to the Werewolves in New York City?
I have been an avid reader of straight vampire novels for years and now I read gay vampire novels. I have read many, but none has held my interest as much as the Mark Julian P.I. series.This is due to the skill of Cicero as reaches back to ancient Roman times and draws on its rich history or battles, the gods and the people of that era who defined it.

This story focuses more on Jaime, our shape-shifting sex demon, spouse of Jean-Claude the head of the werewolf clan. Someone is killing or kidnapping the werewolves and Jaimes and Mark must delicately uncover who is making them disappear. Jaime cleverly and doggedly uncovers the truth of who is making them disappear and who is behind it and the unfortunate killing of Gabby, everyone's favourite vampire. Therein lies the richness of the story which involves Mark Julian and his past! (can't give anything away) Along the way, we meet more werewolves and vampire personalities who will now become a part of the fabric of Cicero's books; besides Mark and Julian and Jaime and Jean-Claude and of course The Letter Lounge. Now there is Dexter and Billy, Viola and her lovers, and many more.

I love that Cicero keeps Jaime tough and tender, wise and wise-cracking and always dressed in fourties outfits. I love the love of the couples juxtaposed with the brutality of their ilk.The last chapter is most interesting as it takes place in a church, during a baptism and everyone has their own thoughts, their own agendas.
For lovers of gay vampires and for those who love the vicious cruelty of vamps and werewolves intertwined with love and lust.........I highly recommend this series.

End of the line...for now?
I got a present -- another Mark Julian, Vampire Detective novel but one with even more of a twist than usual.Sexy werewolves patrolling the streets of New York with just-as-sexy vampires are vanishing, leaving said vampires behind to explain what cannot be explained.Jean-Claude, a JFK Jr-like werewolf who's the new leader of the council that oversees all the denizens of the dark and night, had ordered these mixed patrols (it used to be only vampires kept watch over the city) and the fact that the son of the leader of a rival clan of werewolves is one of those who vanished complicates things, immeasurably.He can't have Mark investigate the disappearances; Mark's a vampire and the werewolves wouldn't believe any conclusion he came to.So he asks Mark's semi-mortal lover, Vinnie, a cop with the NYPD to look into things.Problem is, Jaime, Jean-Claude's sex-demon wife, has other ideas and decides to protect her man by joining forces with the one person who hates her most -- Viola, a female werewolf with a lust for kink...and for Jean-Claude's bod -- and the two of them aim to get to the bottom of things (pun sort of intended).Now let the chaos begin.

This series has been one of my guilty pleasures, I have to admit.I love the characters and the situations.I like how KC makes his sex suggestive instead of explicit, leaving a lot to my rather vivid imagination.I like how he mingles gay and straight and human and non into everything.Granted we're not talking Tolstoy here (and I'm one of those freaks who read "War and Peace" for pleasure); not even MY writing is that good, and I got the ego that's ready to say so once I get to the point where I think I am, trust me.No, we're talking about the supernatural equivalent of "Dynasty" mixed with "Magnum PI" and a dash of "NYPD Blue" for spice.We're talking about a fun story that I can read in one sitting and be happy as I do so.

But...it looks like this series of short novels has come to a close, of sorts, and that's too bad, because I'm still enjoying it.Thanks for the ride through the fun house.

The end of the mini-series
A friend of mine's been letting me read this series so I bought him this one for his birthday (but I had to tell him not to get it, himself) and read it before I sent it off.It's fun and builds an interesting world of denizens of the underground, with their own laws and ways of handling things.Plus the writing's gotten better as the story goes along.

Quick recap -- Mark Julian is a 2000 year old vampire who's a private detective in NYC.He's also gay and involved with Vinnie, a hot Italian cop with the NYPD who's just a regular guy.Mixed into this relationship is Jaime, a sex demon who can be either male or female, until he/she hooks up with Jean-Claude, the hot French prince of a werewolf clan; from that point on she's all girl and fixated on styles of the 40's.Causing mischief around our crew are the leader of the supernaturals in NYC -- Tortego, who used to get off torturing people during the Spanish Inquisition.(There's no word as to how he became a vampire, so I bet he just spontaneously combusted into one).Other groups flitter in and out -- like other sex demons who don't like the idea of Jaime marrying out of her kind and other werewolves who don't like Jean-Claude doing the same thing, and various angels and other vampires and vampire hunters and Prussian scum and on and on -- building up a rich world of night-dwellers and really nice (and really un-nice) un-dead and un-human beings.

Don't get me wrong -- it's not hard to keep track of everyone.Kyle Cicero provides updates at the beginning of the stories (sort of a "Previously on 'Battlestar Galactica'" kind of thing) and the stories aren't so complex you can't follow them.Sometimes it's easy to figure out who did what and who's really behind it, but that happened more in the beginning than the last couple books.And there really isn't any sex that's more involving than what you'd see in a Jackie Collins book.What's fun is seeing a writer get stronger in his control of a story.

This one has werewolves vanishing while on patrol with vampire partners, something obviously aimed at causing trouble for the new head of the council, Jean-Claude.Problem is, Mark can't investigate because he's a vampire and the werewolves wouldn't trust anything he found out.Nor would the vampires trust the findings of a werewolf investigation.So Jaime takes over, pregnant and about ready to pop with god knows what, and she enlists the help of a woman who's sworn to kill her, Viola, who's so hot for Jean-Claude she's actually had a sex demon she knows shift into his likeness for some off-page S&M.And that's as close as you'll get to kink, here.Of course, Mark still winds up helping Jaime and the image of what happened to the werewolves is very surprising.

These are quick reads, though they still have some slow sections, and I'd never call the writing in-depth.The fact is, if you wanted to start with the first one, you could read them all in a week as you toast on a sun-drenched beach,with a Mai-Tai or Corona in one hand and a bottle of SPF 75 in the other.No, that wouldn't work; too big a chance of skin cancer.Just use an umbrella and laze.They're perfect for that. ... Read more