Darkside by Tom Becker

Since our book clubs seem to currently be overwhelmingly female in membership, I vowed to read more books checked out by male students (in my undying efforts to be of more interest to them)!  The first one tackled this summer was Darkside.   It didn't disappoint.  Jonathan Sterling ends up running for his life after a home invasion, somehow linked to his father's growing insanity.  He finds himself in a gothic horror of a place called Darkside--a magical section of London complete with vampires, werewolves, and starving barracudas.  Helped by a growly friend of his father's (part detective, part wereman) called Carnegie--Jonathan survives an action-packed mix of supernatural evil, kidnappings, fights to the death, and the mystery of his father's madness.  It all makes for frightening suspense and a sequel, Lifeblood.