Summary:
gritty, urban vampire tales

These novelette-length stories are scary as hell and packed with freaky sex. Michael is a waif in eyeliner who’s determined to wipe vampires off the face of the earth. Wild Bill’s got his eye on Michael, and he’s willing to do anything to go home with him. If the romance between Gomez & Morticia gives you goosebumps of delight, if you look forward to Halloween movie marathons all year long, if you’ve got a soft spot for fake fog and black lights, then Channeling Morpheus is the series for you!

Review:

I don’t tend to review series in blocks like this, more book by book, but this particular series is made up for rather short novelettes to novellas (12k to 19k). Also as entertaining and interesting as the series is, it’s rather empty and lacking in plot, character development, and depth. But they are delicious quick stories to read that are easy to love and devour. Like me, you probably wont care these are empty calories because the stories are so much fun to read.

Channeling Morpheus is a 5 book series following the characters of Wild Bill and Michael. This series continues with another 5 books in Sweet Oblivion detailing more antics of the same characters but with a different series title due to publisher restrictions. So don’t worry! Once you finish this series, there are still 5 more books to adore before the sad (for readers) end. The CM series goes in the following order: Payback, Vertigo, Manikin, Tainted, Rebirth. The books alternate first person point of view from either Wild Bill or Michael’s perspective.

The series follows the characters from when they first meet as Michael is hunting the vampire that killed his closest friend, Scary Mary. Since discovering Scary Mary’s body and learning that vampires are real at the tender age of eighteen, Michael has been on a two year quest to kill the monster responsible. His immaturity and youth are tampered by determination and sheer will. When Michael finally finds the vampire responsible, Grey, Wild Bill is an unexpected complication.

In the span of the series, Michael slowly matures and comes to realize that his initial hatred of all vampires is tempered by his desire and affection for Wild Bill. Through Bill, Michael learns not all vampires are evil but his obsession with ridding the world of evil vampires is distressing to Bill. Bill initially has a lot of concern about the human he’s developing feelings for seems to be a serial killer, albeit of evil vampires but still. Considering Bill himself is a vampire, not exactly the easiest pairing. However, their sexual chemistry is such that it overwhelms their relationship and only after copious amounts of sex do emotions start to show in the men.

Each book follows a similar pattern where there is a brief scene sometime in the book giving a different setting from a vampire commune to Michael’s parents to a possible cure but these scenes are very short and not the focus. The focus then for the majority of the book is on the increasingly rough, sweaty and bloody sex between Wild Bill and Michael. Both men attach to each other rather easily and just fit seamlessly. Thus the only concern is Michael’s obsession with vampire hunting and the possible transmission of the vampire virus.

In this world, vampirism is almost like a virus that is transmitted through blood, saliva, and basically any sexual contact. Early on in the series, safe sex seems to be the #1 prevention of vampirism. This changes as the series grows and Michael’s situation becomes more complicated and involved. This helps give a uniting thread to the series that focuses primarily on the hot sex between the men. The various short adventures the men get into are empty and forgettable since they are rarely important except to further cement their bond. This bond combined with the engaging dialogue and fast paced writing make the series addictive.

There may not be much to the series and when you finish a book you’ll realize that was one (or more) smoking hot sex scene after another. But you won’t mind. The characters are interesting and thoroughly engaging, regardless of the weaker plots. The writing and dialogue are incredible. The setting is detailed well and the sparse use of prose creates an addictive series you just can’t put down. PsyCops is a more plot based series whereas CM offers the down and dirty sex readers crave. JCP manages to offer two great series appealing to both desires in appealing urban fantasy settings.

Get the series HERE!