Smoke

This is the follow-up to Smoke and Shadows , and while much of the prior criticism remains the same, there are some good points this time around. The plot is something one would expect to see in a really bad horror movie: while filming an episode of the vampire detective show in a haunted mansion, the crew gets trapped inside by some evil power, and must survive until sunrise. Another formula plot, though the author pulls it off as well as can be expected. The characters though, even the hero, Tony, are cardboard cutouts rather than distinct personalities.

Smoke and Shadows is Tanya Huff’s attempt to resurrect her Vicki Nelson Investigations series. This time, one of the bit characters from the earlier series is faced with a supernatural threat while working odd jobs on a movie set, and he must manage to respond to it without the benefit of Vicki’s experience. His only ally is Henry, another of the original characters, and Henry has a problem with daylight…