Out for blood by Alyxandra Harvey

Drake Chronicles. Bloomsbury, 2010. ISBN 9781408807064.
(Age 14+) Recommended. The third in the Drake Chronicles, Out for blood relates the story of Hunter Wild and Quinn Drake. Hunter is a highly trained vampire hunter attending the prestigious Helios-Ra Academy. She is a friend of Kieran, who first appeared in My love lies bleeding, and through her association with him gets to learn about the vampires in the Drake family and becomes more tolerant of them. When Hunter meets Quinn she develops a crush him even though she knows he is a vampire and a boy who plays the field. Also she is going to make some hard choices regarding her loyalty to the vampire hunters and her grandfather as strange things begin to happen at the Academy. Vampires are attacking in increasing numbers and students are falling ill. With the aid of her friends she has to uncover the mystery surrounding the Academy.
Harvey has written an engrossing story. Her series is very clever as she concentrates on the story of one Drake brother in each book and this makes for a series that is not just more of the same. Each has a distinct and quite different personality and the girls that they attracted to are very strong in their own right. Although it would be better to start at the beginning of the series, all the books could be read as stand-alones. There is enough background and character development to remind the reader of what went before and the detailed Drake family tree at the beginning of the book is very helpful in tracing relationships.
Hunter is a strong heroine who uses all her fighting ability skillfully, but who is prepared to be open minded in her dealings with the Drake family. Quinn is a charmer and the romance between the two is handled with a deft hand. Hunter's intelligence shines through as she tries to work through the maze of clues about who is jeopardizing the Academy. I enjoyed the witty dialogue and sarcasm in the book and look forward to the next installment in the series.
Pat Pledger