will keep looking for the real traitor, and strongly implies he suspects Wyman himself. Holt is revealed to have survived and now wants revenge on the Company, Konrad and Cade for leaving her near-dead, Konrad is revealed to have fled to Pakistan and is now working in squalid working conditions. A few weeks later, Cade confronts Dylan in his family's condo in Acapulco - declaring he is guilty of treason, Cade kills him. Themes Self-control/sacrifice: Cade is unique in vampires in that he refuses, in spite of agonizing pain and wild desire, to drink human blood. This stems from his traumatic conversion from human to vampire. He subsists on animal blood, and in a unique twist, he helps fight his thirst for blood by attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, drawing strength from alcoholics who fight their thirst every day of their lives. Religion: Cade's constant self-damnation contrasts with his fanatical fight to serve and protect, rather than feed on, humans. This constant struggle has been described by Farnsworth as stemming from Cade being raised Calvinist, with a strong belief in predestination and the damnation of most of humanity., He also objects when those around him blaspheme by using the Lord's name in vain, and wears a worn cross around his neck, despite its physical discomfort. Fear of unknown: Besides the obvious "cool" factor to vampires, Farnsworth describes much of the story reflecting society's current fears. He states that "Whenever we have trouble facing our fears head-on, we call out the monsters. In the 50s, it was the alien invasion movie. In the 80s, it was the relentless, unstoppable serial killer. And now, we're dealing with the War on Terror with vampires and zombies." Literary reviews In The Washington Post, Elizabeth Hand praised Blood Oath as an "irresistible page-turner", and noted that it used the same themes as The Manchurian Candidate and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The New York Times has Blood Oath topping their summer reading list. The New York Post described it as a "rollicking Washington thriller", and "required reading". The Wall Street Journal called it "silly but better than Twilight." References and inspirations Farnsworth admits to being a fan of many other vampire novels, though he claims to stay away from them while writing. He has described Zach as the type of person that he might have become had he stayed the political path instead of reporting. Film