Stealing Night (Nightfallen Book 2)

A Simple Plan Goes Awry . . .

Jackson is behind enemy lines—a human soldier whose body has been modified to mimic vampirism so that he can spy on the undead. Acting as hired muscle in the Nightfallen economy, a high-race vampire hires Jackson for a simple job: stealing an ancient artifact from a museum.

But when members from a more savage vampire race show interest in the same item, suddenly Jackson isn’t just in danger of having his true identity revealed. Now he’s trapped between different breeds of monster, fighting for his life.

Stealing Night is the second installment in the ongoing Nightfallen thriller series.

Author Q&A

Q: The Nightfallen universe imagines that there are a dozen or more classes of vampire. Can you tell us a little more about that classification system and how it relates to this Nightfallen installment?

A: The idea is that there are all these different kinds of vampires. While they all drink blood and can be ended with a stake through the heart, each has strengths and limitations unique to their group.

Jackson mimics a Matheson class vampire—the same type as his vampiric partner in crime, Ginny. (I should mention that the various classes are named for the horror authors I’m riffing on—sort of a literary in-joke.) In this installment, we see for the first time the Stoker and King classes. The Stokers are regal, intelligent monsters that can turn into anthropomorphized bats and only have hypnotic powers over the opposite sex. The Kings can transform into mist, and have more of a hivemind than any individual personalities.

Jackson and Ginny are hired to pull a heist by a Stoker. A group of Kings finds out, and things go rapidly sideways from there.

Q: These are novelettes in the 13,000 to 20,000 word range. Why that length? Why not just write a full-length novel?

A: I prefer “jump novel” to “novelette”. Regardless the name, there’s been a fair amount of talk that shorter lengths are ideal for the digital age, and I think that’s correct. If you’re taking a train or bus into work, there’s something satisfying about finishing a good thriller, suspense, or adventure story in only a handful of trips. Even if you’re reading at home, I’ve found that on devices, shorter reads are just more enjoyable. The only downside of a jump novel is that you don’t get to know the characters and their world as much because you don’t have as much time with them.

The simple solution is what we’re doing here—creating a series. With a series of jump novels, you get the best of both worlds: many different fast reads to choose from, while also getting a real feel for this fictional world.

Q: Do you have to read the series in order?

A: They are all written to be self-contained thrillers. You definitely get a complete story in each Nightfallen book. But there is a larger meta plot at work, and you’ll begin to see it if you read them in order.

If you want to get all the Nightfallen jump novels and also save yourself a couple bucks, there’s a collected version that will be coming out soon: Nightfallen: Volume One. It will also contains a bonus short story—basically the early prototype for what would eventually become Nightfallen.

Q: Any final thoughts for readers?

A: Just that if you’re in the market for something new and different, give Nightfallen a try. You’ve got a world of adventure to gain.