Jac and Billy: Oleander - Hardcover

by Steven Daniels (Author)

Jac & Billy: Oleander is the second book in a young adult supernatural vampire series centered on eighteen-year-old Jacqueline "Jac" Kelley and her eight-year-old brother, Billy.

Jac never wanted to become a vampire. Forced into the vampire world after being taken from her biological family as a child, she despises what she has become. Rather than embrace vampire society, Jac has turned her curse against the predators who prey on innocent people. She hunts vampires who traffic, abduct, and harm humans, using the supernatural abilities she never wanted to possess.

At the beginning of Oleander, Jac is continuing that mission. Her investigation into vampire trafficking has led her to a ledger connected to the Dog Brothers, the vampires who kidnapped children and sold them to other vampires. Jac discovers that the ledger contains the names of victims, the amounts they were sold for, and the vampires who purchased them. Her own page is missing, but the information gives her a way to track down some of the people responsible.

One of Jac's targets is Eason, a wealthy and arrogant vampire who lives in Philadelphia and has been involved in the trafficking of women and girls. Jac deliberately enters his world and infiltrates his private VIP room at a nightclub, pretending to be interested in him while secretly planning to confront him. The encounter becomes dangerous when Eason realizes who Jac is and what she has discovered about him.

Jac is not simply fighting individual vampires. She is confronting a world in which powerful vampires protect one another, hide behind wealth and influence, and view humans as disposable. Her actions force her to confront how far she is willing to go to punish those who prey on the innocent-and how much of herself she is willing to sacrifice in the process.

While Jac is pursuing her own mission, her younger brother Billy is beginning to display an unusual supernatural ability. Billy does not yet fully understand what is happening to him, and his emerging abilities introduce another mystery into the story. Although Jac and Billy are siblings at the heart of the series, Jac's hunt is largely her own; Billy is not her partner in hunting vampires.

The story explores the relationship between Jac and Billy while continuing Jac's struggle with her identity as a vampire. Jac is protective of her brother and deeply conscious of the fact that he is still a child. Her experiences force her to confront the difference between being a vampire and becoming the kind of monster she despises.

Oleander combines supernatural horror, vampire fiction, action, suspense, and character-driven young adult drama. The story contains violence and darker subject matter but is written for a YA audience. Jac's voice is sarcastic, direct, and emotionally guarded, while the story balances darker vampire themes with humor, sibling dynamics, and moments of vulnerability.

The book is intended for readers who enjoy supernatural YA fiction, vampire stories, morally complicated protagonists, fast-paced action, and stories about siblings facing extraordinary circumstances together. The series focuses less on traditional vampire romance and more on the consequences of becoming a vampire, the abuse of supernatural power, and the question of what separates a monster from the person who hunts monsters.

The title Oleander refers to the poisonous oleander flower, which represents Jac's transformation in this installment. Unlike the white lily associated with the first book's themes of innocence, the oleander reflects the darker direction Jac takes as she actively hunts and kills vampires.