Meet Jaz Parks. Though she doesn’t look the part, she’s secretly a CIA assassin, working for a top-secret department to take out assorted deadly threats around the world. Partnered with Vayl, a centuries-old vampire who requested her specifically for the assignment, Jaz tries to make the world a better place for mortal and other alike. Unfortunately, ever since the deaths of just about everyone on her former combat team (slaughtered by a nest of vampires), she’s been suffering odd brownouts and minor amnesia, and occasionally does things that baffle even her. Luckily, she’s got some good friends watching over her and aiding her in the missions, including Miles Bergman, a freelance technical genius who can build just about anything, given time and workspace. Then there’s Cassandra, a witch and Seer whose visions of the future are rarely wrong, and Cole Bemont, a gum-chewing private investigator with a refreshingly annoying sense of humor. As teams go, it’s an eclectic mix, and one that can hopefully meet and deal with any problem. Which is good, because Jaz and Vayl get some pretty hairy assignments.

In Once Bitten, Twice Shy Jaz and Vayl get sent to take out a plastic surgeon who’s been giving terrorists and other undesirables new faces. As they go undercover, they meet Cole for the first time, discover the possibility of a traitor back in the home office, and run into Vayl’s ex-wife, a vampire who blames him for the death of their sons, hundreds of years ago. Toss into that the fact that Jaz has been developing some strange new abilities of her own, such as the power to sense vampires and other supernatural oddities, and the existence of a deadly cult trying to bring great evil into the world, and you have a recipe for huge disaster.

Obviously, Jaz and friends survive the first book (though HOW is a long story), since they’re back and working as a full-fledged team in Another One Bites The Dust. This time, they’re going undercover at the Corpus Christi Winter Festival. Their mission: to retrieve a unique piece of technology (one of Bergman’s inventions) which renders the wearer nigh-invulnerable and overwhelmingly deadly in battle. The current owner? A dragon-obsessed Chinese vampire with a private army and plans to spark a war. Oh, and did we mention the reavers, body-stealing, soul-eating monsters who hide in plain sight and are nearly impossible to kill under normal circumstances? Jaz, Vayl, Cole, Cassandra and Bergman have their work cut out for them if they want to get through this assignment alive and intact. Will personality conflicts between the members of the team sink them before any one of their many enemies gets the chance? Because waiting in the wings is the unseen architect of many of their woes, Edward Samos, a vampire terrorist also known as the Raptor. And if he gets his way, there’ll be nothing but trouble. But hey, that’s all part of the job for our intrepid band of heroes.

So far, I’ve loved this series. Jennifer Rardin has a knack for giving her characters distinctive voices, and her point-of-view protagonist, Jaz herself, is a delightfully refreshing change of pace. She’s snarky, up on her pop culture, appealing and memorable, and best of all, she doesn’t wallow in her romantic entanglements. (She occasionally indulges in self-pity, but she gets over it quickly enough.) Her interactions with the rest of her team are a great deal of fun, and there’s a satisfying amount of chemistry, be it professional, platonic, or emotional, between just about everyone. From the unusual bonds shared by Jaz and Vayl, to the incessant bickering of Bergman and Cassandra, to the little brotheresque obnoxiousness of Cole (he’s awful when bored), it all seems to fit together quite nicely.

This series has a lot going for it, with a blend of humor, action, adventure, intrigue, mystery, and supernatural mayhem, highly reminiscent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer during the height of its popularity. As urban fantasy, it’s got a strong voice, and a nicely flexible premise, and a great setup, and it’s just fun in general. I’ll be looking forward to seeing the world fleshed out more in books to come, and it’ll definitely be interesting to see how the characters continue to grow and develop. I’d have to give the Jaz Parks books high grades all around. They’re entertaining and humorous without being fluffy or frothy, and I’m absolutely delighted that despite the hint of sexual tension between Jaz and Vayl, they haven’t leapt into bed, nor does Jaz pine for him. Heck, she delights in giving him grief and teasing him whenever the subject even starts to rear its head. For once, we have a strong female heroine who doesn’t need regular doses of sex in order to function properly. (Perhaps an overstatement and an unfair generalization, but celibate heroines do seem to be in the minority these days.) Fans of urban fantasy won’t want to miss out on this hot new series. As an added bonus, Orbit’s set the release dates of the first four books fairly close together, so new fans won’t have long to wait for the next few installments.