Another in the Fred the Vampire Account series. The books are entertaining and quite addictive. ( )

It's more of the same for Fred and friends, but not in a bad way. The stories are always different and interesting.

Fred has become the leader of his own parahuman clan, he's expanding his accounting business, and he's been tested and certified as a freelance accountant for the Agency. While there are many more ridiculous adventures, Fred grows as a vampire and as the leader of his own clan. He makes decisions based on what is best for his clan members--his friends, rather than based on what he wants for them.

Fred forced Albert, his loveable zombie assistant, to see that he was destined for bigger and better things than being the assistant to an accountant, and pushed him to realize his destiny, whatever that may be. Lillian, who left her clan to join Fred, was well on her way to becoming an accountant under Fred's mentoring, something she would have never been able to do within her former clan. He helped, Amy, a powerful prodigy mage and alchemist, to get out from under the contracts the higher mages had tricked her into.

And somewhere in between all that, he was used as bait by someone within the agency. In the midst of it, Fred realized that the stoic, gruff agent Arch was more of a friend than he had realized, almost died at the hand of his absentee Sire (again), and had his honor defended (sort of) by the King of the West, Elder Dragon, Gideon. The agency was been thoroughly rebuked by Gideon regarding Fred's safety (without making it look like he actually favored Fred, but rather it would have been a major inconvenience to have had his host's, Richard, accountant murdered because of their carelessness.)

Most importantly, Fred finally realized how much of his (un)life he'd been hiding from in fear, and his near (re)death experience had shown him that he was stronger, braver and had more to live for than he'd ever realized.

I am loving the progression and growth of all of the characters. They are all different beings than they were in the first book. I am very much enjoying their development and am interested in seeing where the next set of shenanigans takes us dear readers. ( )

Being an accountant, even if it is for the paranormal community should pretty much be a danger free calm job. Despite Fred's sweater vests and over all calm demeanor, trouble seems to routinely find him. Fred isn't the bravest vampire in existence but his strong sense of morality and concern for others has earned him friends and allies who are quite powerful. Now that Fred is the leader of his own clan, he has to become even more involved in the lives of his friends.

My constant criticism of this series is that each book is more like compilation of short stories rather than one long discernible novel with a beginning, middle, climax and end. It's almost as though Hayes had several good ideas and could not find a way to pick one and flesh it out until it became a standard length novel. What Hayes does instead is to pick an overriding theme and then write stories which fit whatever narrative he's chosen to fixate on.

The Fangs of Freelance is really all about how Fred adjusts to being the leader of his own clan and the new alliance he makes with the Agency. Fred may not be a brave vampire and is still relatively new to the supernatural in comparison to his friends but becoming the leader of the clan of Fred has given him remarkable power. Fred could choose lawfully to twist his friends to his will, or to make life altering decisions for them but instead, Fred chooses to use his powers to empower their autonomy. This manifests when Fred encourages Albert to spread his wings because Albert possess a weapon of destiny, even though this will take Albert away from Fred. It's Fred who sees the usury of Amy's contract and rather than enriching himself, not only gives Amy the ability to free herself financially, thus opening up new options, he turns down a bribe to maintain the status quo. Essentially, Fred is just a classic good guy.

Fred's basic decency has earned him the respect of his friends who have formed his clan. This decency has caused his friends to jump to his aid when he needs it and or risk their lives to protect him. Arch actually dies to protect Fred from his sire. Sure, Arch may have the ability to resurrect but being decapitated cannot be any fun.

The Fangs of Freelance is the fourth novel in this series and I have to say that the novelty is starting to wear a little thin. Yes, Fred is unique because of his passion for numbers, fairness, and sweater vests. Yes, Fred gets himself into interesting situations because of his unfamiliarity with the paranormal world and his skill as an account allows him to come up with unique solutions. The problem is that Hayes has hammered home on this to such a degree that it feels been there done that. The Fangs of Freelance doesn't really offer anything new to this universe or give us any new characterisation to make it a fun read. If you're going to go down a quirky road, it's something that you have to keep playing with in order for it not to grow old and tired.

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