History Literature / LauraCaxton

* [[LikeASonToMe Like a Daughter to Me]]: One scene sees Justinia muse that Arkeley sees Caxton as his spiritual daughter.

* MentorShip: Arkeley's ex-wife accuses Laura of having this with him [[spoiler:after Arkeley becomes a vampire]], apparently ignorant of the fact that Laura is a lesbian. Caxton briefly wonders if Arkeley did have those kind of feelings for her and just never brought them up because he knew it was pointless, [[spoiler:although a scene from Malvern's perspective suggests that Arkeley just saw Caxton as his spiritual daughter]].

* ChekhovsGun: During ''Vampire Zero'', Caxton receives a new weapon that is similar to her old one but includes a slightly larger magazine. This change [[spoiler:proves useful in the final confrontation, as she is able to shoot Arkeley's now-vampire daughter Raleigh because she and Arkeley assumed that they had deprived Caxton of all her bullets when in fact she still had one left in the gun]].

* CreepyChild: Even before she was a vampire, Malvern was twisted; a flashback in ''32 Fangs'' reveals that she tricked her father into killing her uncle by claiming that her uncle had molested her (without even fully understanding what she was accusing him of) simply because her uncle wouldn't give her candy.

* TheNeidermeyer: Deputy Marshal Fetlock at least hovers on the edge of being this. Caxton's allies Clara Hsu and Officer Glauer acknowledge that Fetlock's adherence to the rules isn't a bad thing in itself, and respect that he would have accepted his own sentence if he was ever brought up on the charges that led to Caxton being arrested, but his adherence to the law prevents him from recognising that his strategies won't work when dealing with vampires; his determination to keep his troops alive just means that the vampires are killing innocent civilians instead, his refusal to believe Caxton when she claims the main vampire isn't dead gave her foe two years to make a new plan, and when he finally tries to go after the vampires he gets his entire team killed because he relied on a show of force rather than ask Caxton to help out.

* TheoryTunnelvision: In ''23 Hours'', when Malvern is leaving large numbers of victims without any sign that she's turning more vampires or creating half-deads, Fetlock focuses on the idea that this means she's running scared, when even Clara- the member of the team with the least direct experience with vampires- knows that Malvern must have a plan, even if she can't guess what that plan might be.
* TrainingFromHell: Arkeley's 'training' of Caxton basically serves as this as he basically gives her enough facts to avoid getting instantly killed while leaving her to work out some of the finer details.

* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: In Arkeley's memory, Caxton uses vampire teeth for bullets [[spoiler:in the final confrontation with Malvern]], as the teeth are sharp enough to penetrate a vampire's skin.

** In ''23 Hours'', Malvern gouges out the eye of her current human 'ally' when the other woman keeps questioning her tactics, [[spoiler:although this may have been part of Malvern's long-term plan to fake her death by making the other woman look like her]].

* LooksLikeOrlok: After humans become vampires, they basically assume this look.

* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Vampires have mouthfuls of sharklike teeth. Older vampires may have lost or broken some, but even after centuries of undeath, they have more than enough to bite off your limbs.

* PsychicAssistedSuicide: Part of the transformation into a vampire involves the subject being compelled to kill themselves; once this compulsion has worn off, the risk of turning into a vampire after death has generally elapsed.

* BloodierAndGorier: Bloodier and gorier than most vampire fiction.
* BloodLust: All vampires have it. Few vampires can stop themselves from feeding if there is human blood available, a fact which Laura uses to save herself more than once by driving an intelligent foe into an unthinking frenzy.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Deputy Marshal Fetlock may have created the task force focused on hunting Malvern, but his focus on making sure the department looks good for the public and their superiors means that he doesn't push the team hard enough to actually catch up with Malvern.

* TheoryTunnelvision: In ''23 Hours'', when Malvern is leaving large numbers of victims without any sign that she's turning more vampires or creating half-deads, Fetlock focuses on the idea that this means she's running scared, when even Clara- the member of the team with the least direct experience vampires- knows that Malvern must have a plan, even if she can't guess what that plan might be.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In ''Vampire Zero'', Glauer, Caxton's current deputy, [[spoiler:inadvertently provides recovering drug addict Raleigh Arkeley with access to drugs, which she uses to overdose herself and thus become a vampire]].

* TheRenfield: There are a few cases of this, ranging from people who have been manipulated into feeling 'sorry' for Justinia's withered condition, or people who just want the power of being a vampire, to people serving her because they're dying of an illness already and prefer the extra life they'll have as a vampire over the natural death awaiting them if they do nothing.

* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: Arkeley and Laura occasionally use vampire teeth in their bullets, as the teeth are sharp enough to penetrate a vampire's skin.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Vampires die at dawn, rotting away to a pool of deliquescent flesh, which is why they need a coffin or another container. While in this state, their heart can be removed and destroyed easily. If the heart is removed without being destroyed, it can be replaced later (over a century later in ''99 Coffins'') and the vampire will be resurrected as normal at dusk. Vampires are at their strongest on the night they rise and also become weaker as they age, requiring more and more blood to maintain a lifelike body. The primary antagonist of the series, Justinia Malvern, is over 300-years old, and spends most of the books as a skeletal corpse in a coffin, barely able to move a finger to communicate by typing (her larynx has rotted away); it is estimated that she would need six gallons of blood a night just to walk on her own.

* TheRenfield: There are a few cases of this, ranging from people who have been manipulated into feeling 'sorry' for Justinia's withered condition to people serving her because they're dying of an illness already and prefer the extra life they'll have as a vampire over the natural death awaiting them if they do nothing.

* MentorShip: Arkeley's ex-wife accuses Laura of having this with him [[spoiler:after Arkeley becomes a vampire]], apparently ignorant of the fact that Laura is a lesbian. Caxton sometimes wonders if Arkeley did have those kind of feelings for her and just never brought them up because he knew it was pointless.

* ObsoleteMentor: Arkeley comes to feel like this in ''99 Coffins'' due to his lost fingers and old age.

* TheEndOrIsIt: At the end of the fourth book, ''23 hours'', [[spoiler: it's heavily implied that the body that the police thought was [[TheChessmaster Malvern]] is really one of the inmates turned into a vampire]]. ''32 Fangs'' [[spoiler:confirms that]].

* MentorShip: Arkeley's ex-wife accuses Laura of having this with him [[spoiler:after Arkeley becomes a vampire]], apparently ignorant of the fact that Laura is a lesbian. Caxton sometimes wonders if Arkeley did have those kind of feelings for her and just never brought them up because he knew it was pointless, but there is no clear evidence either way.

* StakingTheLovedOne: Laura has to do this more than once.

* TheEndOrIsIt: At the end of the fourth book, ''23 hours'', [[spoiler: it's heavily implied that the body that the police thought was [[TheChessmaster Malvern]] is really one of the inmates turned into a vampire]].
* VampireBitesSuck

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: ''99 Coffins'' ends with [[spoiler:Arkley becoming a vampire himself, with ''Vampire Zero'' looking at his subsequent attacks on his own family as he succumbs to his vampire instincts]].
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: ''Vampire Zero'' [[spoiler:explores Arkley's new activities as a vampire, as he uses his knowledge to subvert Laura's attempts to hunt him]].

* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: ''Vampire Zero'' [[spoiler:explicitly explores how Arkley's remaining human affection for his family has been corrupted by his vampire side's loathing of that part of himself]].
* DecoyProtagonist: The prologue to ''13 Bullets'' features Jameson Arkley exclusively, as does the summary on the back cover. One would almost suspect Laura of being this, given that she plays Robin to Jameson's Batman through most of the book.
* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: Arkley and Laura occasionally use vampire teeth in their bullets, as the teeth are sharp enough to penetrate a vampire's skin.

** In ''Vampire Zero'', [[spoiler:Caxton is able to hurt Arkley by shining her gun's laser targeting beam in his eyes, his vampiric vision so vulnerable to bright light that what would blind a human for a few moments basically destroys Arkley's eyes, helping Caxton lure him into a trap]].
* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler: Jameson Arkley becomes a vampire for noble reasons but embraces the beast completely before long.]]
* {{Fingore}}: Arkley loses most of the fingers on one hand in the first book.
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: In ''99 Coffins'', [[spoiler:Arkley becomes a vampire so that he can destroy the titular 99 reborn vampires by himself, believing that he could control himself enough to return and be killed after they were all dead. He succeeds in killing the other vampires, but subtly succumbs to his instincts afterwards]].

* MentorShip: Arkley's ex-wife accuses Laura of having this with him [[spoiler:after Arkley becomes a vampire]], apparently ignorant of the fact that Laura is a lesbian. Caxton sometimes wonders if Arkley did have those kind of feelings for her and just never brought them up because he knew it was pointless, but there is no clear evidence either way.

* ObsoleteMentor: Arkley comes to feel like this in ''99 Coffins'' due to his lost fingers and old age.

* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: The legal debates around this question are basically the reason Justinia wasn't executed decades ago; while nobody had a problem with Arkley killing her servant, even though he was walking and talking, when he was actually killing people, they chose to keep Justinia alive and in captivity because they had no evidence that she'd ever attacked anyone herself. [[spoiler:Ultimately ended in ''Vampire Zero'', when her role in Arkley's transformation deprives her of her legal protection, unfortunately after she has escaped captivity]].

* DieHardOnAnX: 23 Hours is Die Hard in a prison . . . with vampires!
* EyeScream: Justinia killed herself to become a vampire by shooting herself in the head, simultaneously destroying her left eye.

* HunterOfHisOwnKind: In ''99 Coffins'', [[spoiler:Arkley becomes a vampire so that he can destroy the titular 99 reborn vampires by himself, believing that he could control himself enough to return and be killed after they were all dead]].

* LooksLikeOrlok
* MentorShip: Arkley's ex-wife accuses Laura of having this with him [[spoiler:after Arkley becomes a vampire]], apparently ignorant of the fact that Laura is a lesbian.

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: ''99 Coffins'' ends with [[spoiler:Ackerly becoming a vampire himself, with ''Vampire Zero'' looking at his subsequent attacks on his own family as he succumbs to his vampire instincts]].
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: ''Vampire Zero'' [[spoiler:explores Ackerly's new activities as a vampire, as he uses his knowledge to subvert Laura's attempts to hunt him]].

* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: ''Vampire Zero'' [[spoiler:explicitly explores how Ackerly's remaining human affection for his family has been corrupted by his vampire side's loathing of that part of himself]].

* DepletedPhlebotinumShells: Ackerly and Laura occasionally use vampire teeth in their bullets, as the teeth are sharp enough to penetrate a vampire's skin.

* {{Fingore}}: Ackerly loses most of the fingers on one hand in the first book.
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: In ''99 Coffins'', [[spoiler:Ackerly becomes a vampire so that he can destroy the 99 reborn vampires by himself, believing that he could control himself enough to return and be killed after they were all dead]].

* MentorShip: Ackerly's ex-wife accuses Laura of having this with him [[spoiler:after Ackerly becomes a vampire]], apparently ignorant of the fact that Laura's a lesbian.

* ObsoleteMentor: Ackerly comes to feel like this in ''99 Coffins'' due to his lost fingers and old age.

* TheEndOrIsIt: At the end of the fourth book, ''23 hours'', [[spoiler: it's heavily implied that who they thought was [[TheChessmaster Malvern]] is really one of the inmates turned into a vampire]].

* BloodierAndGorier - Bloodier and gorier than most vampire fiction.
* BloodLust - All vampires have it. Few vampires can stop themselves from feeding if there is human blood available, a fact which Laura uses to save herself more than once by driving an intelligent foe into an unthinking frenzy.
* DecoyProtagonist - The prologue to ''13 Bullets'' features Jameson Arkley exclusively, as does the summary on the back cover. One would almost suspect Laura of being this, given that she plays Robin to Jameson's Batman through most of the book.
* DieHardOnAnX - 23 Hours is Die Hard in a prison . . . with vampires!

* LesbianVampire - Laura's partner becomes a vampire in ''13 Bullets''.

* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily - Vampires have mouthfuls of sharklike teeth. Older vampires may have lost or broken some, but even after centuries of undeath, they have more than enough to bite off your limbs.
* OurVampiresAreDifferent - Vampires die at dawn, rotting away to a pool of deliquescent flesh, which is why they need a coffin or another container. While in this state, their heart can be removed and destroyed easily. If the heart is removed without being destroyed, it can be replaced later (over a century later in ''99 Coffins'') and the vampire will be resurrected as normal at dusk. Vampires are at their strongest on the night they rise and also become weaker as they age, requiring more and more blood to maintain a lifelike body. The primary antagonist of the series, Justinia Malvern, is over 300-years old, and spends most of the books as a skeletal corpse in a coffin, barely able to move a finger to communicate by typing (her larynx has rotted away.)
* StakingTheLovedOne - Laura has to do this more than once.

* TheEndOrIsIt - At the end of the fourth book, ''23 hours'', [[spoiler: it's heavily implied that who they thought was [[TheChessmaster Malvern]] is really one of the inmates turned into a vampire]].

* YourVampiresSuck - Vampires are ridiculously tough. The first vampire kill is done by trapping it under a ditch witch, then using a jackhammer to break through its chest and destroy its heart. The more blood they drink, the stronger they become, healing wounds instantaneously, though they do become slower if they gorge themselves.

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