Ghouls and Gangsters(slu)
Darrell Terrell survived Iraq. But something followed him home. After a mission near the ancient ruins of Ur ends with his best friend missing and Darrell bitten by a creature that....
Darrell Terrell survived Iraq. But something followed him home. After a mission near the ancient ruins of Ur ends with his best friend missing and Darrell bitten by a creature that shouldn't exist, the 27-year-old Marine returns home carrying something inside him, an unnatural hunger that grows stronger every day. Looking for a fresh start, Darrell heads to San Francisco and finds work at the Dragon Pearl, a Chinatown nightclub with secrets of its own. He soon discovers that vampires, dragons, shapeshifters, ghouls, and other supernatural beings have been hiding in plain sight, and they have territories, alliances, and rules that outsiders aren't supposed to question. Darrell has another problem. **He's becoming one of them.** A mysterious serum can suppress his hunger, but it can't cure him. And whatever attacked Darrell wasn't an ordinary ghoul. The ancient creature left something behind in his blood, something powerful enough to make other monsters take notice. When Darrell's past collides with a woman he never stopped caring about and a powerful vampire with dangerous intentions, staying out of supernatural business is no longer an option. To protect the people he loves, Darrell will have to learn the rules of San Francisco's hidden world, uncover what he's becoming, and decide how much of the monster inside him he's willing to unleash. **Because in this city, humans aren't at the top of the food chain.** And Darrell is getting hungry.