The Syndicate

Written by Jon F. Merz

Narrated by Joe Hempel

A missing family member sends Lawson on a trip to New York City only to run smack into vampire organized crime. Now they've got Lawson right where they want him-and they want him to switch sides and betray the Balance. But Lawson's got more than one play in his book, and if he has to go to the wall to rescue his cousin and stop the Syndicate from unleashing a new synthetic drug on the masses, then that's just what he'll do.

Meet Lawson: A cynical, wise-cracking vampire charged with protecting the Balance-the secret existence of a race of living vampires that have evolved alongside humanity for thousands of years.

A fixer: Part-spy, and part-commando-James Bond with fangs. Lawson mixes shrewd cunning with unmatched lethality to get his job done. He tries his best to dismantle conspiracies, dispatch bad guys, and live long enough to get home.

The Syndicate: Vampire organized crime has always kept to itself-and been largely tolerated by the Council. But this time, they're stepping out of the shadows in order to entice Lawson to join them as they unveil a brand new synthetic drug upon the masses.

Cho: A short, squat, misbegotten albino drug lord, Cho wants nothing more than to lure Lawson to New York and get him to join the Syndicate. To do it, he'll take a hostage-one of Lawson's family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9781977382214

Reviews for The Syndicate

[carl_alves_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

If you’ve read the Dresden File novels by Jim Butcher, you’ll find the vampire who is the main character in this series a good bit different than Harry Dresden, and I would say in a good way. Whereas as Dresden is an overly flawed character, Lawson is not. He has more panache, and a better skill set combining military and spy tactics. In The Syndicate, the vampire organized crime faction has kidnapped one of Lawson’s relatives in order to lure him into working for them. Meanwhile, they are also trying to unleash a new, devastating synthetic drug on the population. Now Lawson has to stop the syndicate and rescue his relative.Although I liked the Lawson character, the plot is simply weak. There is very little believability to the story, even with completely accepting a vampire mafia, and a vampire council living in the shadows. Most of the action is fairly ridiculous, and had me groaning. The writing is also a bit subpar. It’s a less than mediocre novel. If you’re not tied into this series, it’s one you’ll want to avoid.Carl Alves – author of Blood Street