Rating: 
Summary: Vampires are People too, Well Almost
Review: The vampire Lawson is a fixer. When a vampire endangers the delicate balance between humans and vampires, he fixes it by taking the renegade vampire out of action. Vampires have to feed, but they're supposed to leave their human prey alive and unharmed.Lawson has been given the job of tracking his nemesis Cosgrove, who is leaving human bodies in his wake, and he teams up with the deadly and alluring ex KGB assassin Talya, who is after Cosgrove for reasons of her own. This thriller is a vampire-slash-detective story that reads like a hard boiled PI novel about a world where vampires do vampire jobs in broad daylight, enjoy garlic, can see themselves in the mirror and live in the 'burbs. Merz has painted us a new kind of vampire world and it's one that sucks you right in. "The Fixer" is a fast paced thriller, a mystery, albeit a different kind of mystery, and a book that I think you'll enjoy reading. I know I did. Reviewed by Stephanie Sane
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic read!
Review: This is one of the finest debut novels I've read in a long time. It's rare that a book would appeal to fans of both vampire and hard-boiled detective novels, but The Fixer manages this in spades! Merz takes the vampire mythos and turns it on its head, all the while building a gritty, thrilling (and at times quite amusing) story that starts fast and never lets up. His realistic characters and confident manner of building tension makes this a true "page-turner". I'm eagerly looking forward to picking up the next volume in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: So-so book
Review: This is the first book in a new series, The Lawson Vampire: The Fixer (Published May 2002)
The Invoker (Published October 2003)
The Destructor (Published March 2003)
The Syndicate (Published October 2003) The Fixer was an OK book from start to finish. It set up the cast of characters adequately for the next books in the series and was grammatically and structurally well written, but, not very original. Lawson, the main character, is a Fixer for the counsel. When vampires endanger the balance between humans and vampires, he "Fixes it". Normally that involves taking out the perpetrator permanently, with extreme prejudice. Lawson's nemesis in this book is Cosgrove, a vicious vampire from his past who almost killed him. Previously, Cosgrove had left several bloodless victims behind, during his last rampage. The council did not agree with Lawson's assessment and would not sanction Cosgrove. Cosgrove leaves a trail of another 50 corpses to be found and then the council decides that he is a threat to the vampire race, sanctioning Lawson to take him out permanently. Cosgrove wants to eliminate the ruling council, take over the world, and have the humans as little more than cattle. That's the setup for this book. It's practically a rip off of Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. Lawson=Fixer=Anita Blake=Enforcer. If you mix part Anita Blake (Laurel K. Hamilton) with part Jack Fleming (P.N. Elrod, The Vampire Files) you get Lawson? Lawson gets romantically involved with some bimbo assassin, who is tough as nails...original, right? Cosgrove is supposed to be much stronger than Lawson, because, he drains his victims' of all their blood, where as Lawson, takes a little bit from several people. Cosgrove has numerous opportunities to take out Lawson, but, doesn't. How convenient, wouldn't be much of a book or a very long one if he did? I had a couple of complaints against this book and there fore did not rate it higher. First, the vampires in this book weren't very vampire like in nature. They can walk in the light, eat regular food and weren't immortal, just had long life spans, greater strength, enhanced senses, and some other miscellaneous powers. Basically, a bunch of wimps. The main character was not very likeable. He was crude, vulgar and just plain boring. I was kind of hoping that Cosgrove would take him out so the book would end and I would be put out of my misery. I felt that the plot and the book in general was nothing more than a setup for the following books in the series. Reading this book, I never felt that Lawson was ever in any danger or that the world was in peril of being over run by Cosgrove and his evil cohorts. This was the authors first published book. He's not in Anne Rices' or P.N. Elrods' league yet, but, I've read a lot worse books. I rated it just OK. The authors got some potenetial.
Rating:
Summary: Fun w/ spy protag who just happens to be a vampire
Review: To be honest, I became a fan of Jon F. Merz's writing long before I ever read any of his published fiction.
Every week during the year between the acceptance of his first novel, "The Fixer," and its appearance in bookstores, Merz wrote a brutally honest online account of the ups and downs of the pre-publishing process, including everything from having input on the cover art to firing his agent and hiring a new one.
Fascinating stuff for bookworms like me.
Okay, you say, so the guy can write a diary, but can he write a good book?
And what's this novel about, anyway?
If I say it's about a noirish Boston supersleuth with his own personal moral code, you would probably think, Ah, it's a rip-off of Robert B. Parker's Spenser detective novels.
If I say it's a vampire book, you might think, Ah, it's a rip-off of Ann Rice's moody and morose undead nightstalkers.
But stir the best elements of these two together, throw in a little conspiracy theory a la Clancy, Ludlum or Cussler, and you get "The Fixer."
"The Fixer" is the first in a planned series about Lawson, a sort of vampire vigilante - if a vampire starts hassling humanity or exposing the secret (but generally not evil) vampire society, "fixers" like Lawson are called in to take them out.
In Merz's opening effort, Lawson takes on his megalomaniacal arch-enemy, Cosgrove, who is hatching a plan to take over the vampire world and enslave humanity.
It's not as cartoonish as it might sound - such a premise could easily fall apart or become downright silly in the hands of an amateur, but Merz throws the reader headlong into a roller coaster plot full of out-of-the-blue twists including bombs, break-ins, martial arts battles, nightclub shootouts and a gorgeous powerhouse Slavic hitwoman.
Obviously we're not talking Shakespeare here - we're talking entertainment - but Merz's crisp, quick writing whisks the reader along. It's full of great noir-style blink-and-you'll-miss-it one-liners. For instance, when Lawson winds up in the hospital - a vampire in a human hospital, think about it - he muses, "If nurses still dressed in short little uniforms, I might like them more. But they don't, so hospitals never make my list of cool places to hang out."
Many will consume this book in a single sitting, but Merz's cliffhanger construction is excellent for busy schedules like mine - I read "The Fixer" in big, greedy gulps, always with great anticipation. I read it every chance I got - on the deck while grilling dinner, between business meetings and in the mall while the wife went shopping. It's that sort of book.
In the end, "The Fixer" is nothing more - and nothing less - than a well-done crime/espionage thriller with a protagonist who just happens to be a vampire. The rules and background Merz sets up for his creatures of the night are as solid and consistent as such fantastical material gets, but it's the hyperkinetic action, the noirishly stylized writing and the solid characterization that will bring readers back.
Probably the highest praise I can give "The Fixer" is that I'll be buying its sequel, "The Invoker," due out this fall.
Merz has set up a toll-free ordering number at 1-888-345-BOOK.
Also, for you aspiring writers out there, Merz recently collected the newsletters mentioned above into a single a free e-book, called Countdown, on his Web site...
Rating:
Summary: Fixer: Personality and Plot
Review: Wonderful book? You bet. If you're interested in anything with voice, captivating action, and unending plot twists, Jon F. Merz's book, The Fixer, is for you! Merz knows what he's doing when he writes this tale of betrayal, love and violence. Never before have I finished a book (of this length) so quickly. I could not put it down. Edge of the seat thrills, Vibrant images, You'd think I'm selling a DVD player with these types of phrases. But I'm not. The Fixer does not dissapoint. Wonderful writing written well.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm already looking for the sequel!
Review: You might be asking yourself, "Why should I spend my hard-earned cash on a book by a brand new author?" If so, stop! Buy this book now! Merz has created great characters with a few interesting twists on traditional vampire mythology. I think THE FIXER is just the beginning of a captivating series.
Lawson lives in a world where vampires are not only real, they have co-existed with humans on this planet since the beginning of mankind. Lawson himself is a vampire and is sworn to maintain the secrecy of this society. He's also a Fixer which means he is dedicated to putting to right whatever might threaten to expose the existence of vampires. Lawson is trained in the fine arts of fighting and killing. He also has a soft spot for his cats and for beautiful women--hey, it's noir, it HAS to have beautiful dames! He narrates this tale in what I like to think of as "intellectual gumshoe" which is a bit of Bogie with a bit of Charlie Chan.
In THE FIXER, Lawson finds himself pitted against his oldest enemy, Cosgrove. The two of them have tangled before, with nasty results for Lawson and for the humans around them. Cosgrove has plans to take over as leader of the vampires; plans that will upset the delicate balance between human and vampire. Along the way, Lawson teams up with the beautiful and deadly Talya who gets under his skin like no human has done before and who has her own reasons for wanting Cosgrove destroyed. We also meet Zero, Lawson's friend and mentor, Wirek, a mysterious, drunken Elder vampire, and a slew of other quirky and creepy characters.
I really enjoyed this novel, and I look forward to reading about Lawson in future installments of this series. THE FIXER offers some ... action, a bit of romance, sinister plots and sub-plots, and intriguing characters. It's a well-written, dark, humorous, and downright fun story. If you like vampire novels, detective stories, supernatural tales, or action-packed thrillers, you'll love THE FIXER. Merz definitely delivers with this one.
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