Davey Owen and Casey Thorne, now vampires, are happily married and living in Los Angeles, writing screenplays. Meanwhile, a curious horror author who caught wind of the destruction of Live Girls hires a couple of private investigators to find out if vampires are actually real. Thus the horror begins again ...
Tropes featured in Night Life include:
- Affably Evil: Isaac Krieger is a car thief and Serial Rapist, but an otherwise friendly fellow who gets along with Davey. Although Davey said he only "comes off" as nice.
- Bad Boss: Heavily implied with Victor Barna. Castlebeck is clearly intimidated by him, and he more or less seems to suggest that the price of failing him is quite harsh.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Norman is an absolutely kind-hearted young man, but won’t hesitate to take down some brutals when he hears about their evil deeds.
- Bittersweet Ending: Karen has been rescued from the hotel and the carnage that Davey and his friends have left behind will raise questions about the existence of vampires. But Karen and Denise still have to deal with the trauma of being violated, and Davey is alone, now that Casey is dead.
- Break the Cutie: Denise mistakes her husband for crazy and is horrified by his behavior, is abducted and brought to star in a porn film wherein she’s brutally raped, then left horribly traumatized by the entire ordeal.
- Cool Old Lady: Mrs. Dupassie. She was turned in her eighties, and she's a psychic who offers her services to both brutals and more civilized vampires.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Victor Barna is a vampiric real estate mogul, and also a sex trafficker who owns an illegal underground porn ring, along with a seedy hotel where his victims are held captive to be tortured, raped, and fed on.
- Decapitation Presentation: Done to Davey with Casey's severed head in a package.
- Dropped a Bridge on Her:
- Casey is unceremoniously killed by Anya off-page, for the sole purpose of hurting Davey.
- Anya herself is given this treatment; after nearly 20 years, Davey finds her "alive" in the Royal Arms Hotel, and kills her in a quick fight with a pair of shotgun blasts.
- Elderly Immortal: Mrs. Dupassie was in her 80s when she was turned, apparently as a cruel joke.
- Fat Bastard: Frank Castlebeck. He's a scuzzy porn director who owned a joint of strip clubs and brothels, and some (if not most) of his stars are unwilling before Victor Barna forced him into selling them.
- Faux Affably Evil: Barna is quite a pleasant man. He'll even politely greet you as he forces you to watch him feed on your girlfriend.
- Gentle Giant: Norman is 6'5" and well-built, but he’s one of the nicest characters in the books.
- Gratuitous Rape: The rape scenes are excessive and don't serve much purpose beyond trying to point out that the bad guys are bad guys.
- Informed Attribute: It's stated that the majority of vampires are monsters, but mostly, we only get to see the good guy vampires.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Anya evaded the destruction of Live Girls in the first book, only to be blown away by Davey right after he finds her in the Royal Arms Hotel.
- Moral Myopia: Anya murders Casey as revenge for Davey blowing up Live Girls, despite the fact that she and her fellow vampires had been using that joint to lure in horny men to feed on, and ruined Davey's life in the first place.
- Our Vampires Are Different: In addition to their characteristics from the previous book, they're now (inexplicably) a lot more vulnerable to sunlight,note but can eat human foods, get ripped at the gym, and apparently have functional plumbing. There are also shown to be two separate types of vampires: the "brutals", who make up the majority of their species and fit into the Always Chaotic Evil stereotype, and the more human-like vampires, such as Davey and Casey, who try to "live" as fully human as possible.
- Police Are Useless: Justified, in that there are brutals working on the force to cover up vampiric crimes. However, there's a more straightforward example with Officer Keaton, who somehow managed to convince himself that Davey didn't really shapeshift in front of him.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Keoph refers to himself as "not what you'd call politically correct". However, this seems to be a purely Informed Attribute, as he never says anything that could really be deemed offensive. Karen might be a more straight-forward example, in that she's said to find the idea of sleeping with a woman "mildly repulsive".
- Rape as Drama: Casey, Karen, and Denise are dragged off to an underground porn ring, where they’re forced to perform in some horribly degrading scenes to break them down.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Walter, Casey, and Anya all die here.
- Taking You with Me: Benedek manages to kill one of the vampires sent to kill him, just as he'd hoped to.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Anya was already villainous in Live Girls, but at least she offered to teach Davey how to properly feed without needing to kill anyone. The destruction of Live Girls just seemed to make her that much more of an evil bitch. She supports Barna's sex trade, murders Casey to spite Davey, and takes Karen into her room just to have her way with her.
- Vampires Are Rich: Discussed. Almost every vampire in the book lives a lavish lifestyle, often owning one or more pieces of property.
