If at this point you have a touch of déjà vu, that's because Karen Chance has shrewdly identified a gap in the market, and focussed her efforts accordingly. Comparisons must be made with Laurell K. Hamilton, and her best-selling characters Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, and Meredith Gentry, exiled princess of the Fey. Cassie Palmer borrows a little from both, but copies neither. Fans of Hamilton's earlier works will be delighted to learn that Chance's use of sex within the story, is both fitting and brief. The story has its darkness, but is not really dark fantasy. It also has some depth, but does not come close to Anne Rice territory. Instead, what it concentrates on is delivering a fast paced, inventive, introduction to the past, present and possible future of a tough yet still sympathetic character. In addition to vampire clans, the backdrop includes human mages, demons, were creatures, ghosts, pixies, and allegedly elves. The story centres on the reason why everyone wants Cassie, which is her developing control over the undead, and quite originally, the ability to body-hop in space and time, altering events. It's a useful trick, which all the main players are worried about, and would like to control. The swirl of what characters say they're up to versus what they're really doing can sometimes be a little fuzzy at the edges, and Cassie's innocence, given her upbringing among blatantly sexual predatory creatures, was also difficult to accept. Having said that, unlike the afore-mentioned competition, Cassie's ability to keep her knees together allows the story to flow. As events unfolded I found myself won over by her single-minded determination to survive, and her off-white humour, which made up for the minor defects.

In summary, Touch the Dark is a worthy beginning, which in the fullness of time has the potential to become excellent. A sequel, Claimed by Shadow, will focus on the mages. Future books featuring both Cassie Palmer, and different protagonists within the same universe but different parts of the world, are planned. There's also a novella sized work mainly about the mysterious Fey. The signs are that Karen Chance can maintain momentum, continue to develop her world intelligently, and avoid the mistakes of her predecessors. Therefore, this is a series I can recommend getting into on the ground floor.