Davey Owen Books in Order

The Davey Owen books are Ray Garton at his grubby, urban vampire best. This is not a polished gothic romance, and it is definitely not the kind of vampire story where the monsters spend much time brooding about their feelings. These vampires are predatory, sexual, and vicious, and the books lean hard into the sleazy city energy around them.

The series begins with Live Girls, where Davey Owen is already having a bad time before the supernatural trouble even starts. He has lost his job, lost his girlfriend, and drifted into the old Times Square nightlife looking for distraction. Instead, he stumbles into a world of dangerous beauty, hunger, and power, and one bad decision sends him straight into a nightmare. Davey begins as an ordinary, beaten-down guy, which is part of what makes the story work. He is not a hero in waiting. He is just exposed, lonely, and easy to pull under.

That first book gives the series its core mood. New York matters here. The streets, the clubs, the cheap thrills, and the sense that something filthy is always happening just out of sight all help shape the horror. Garton uses the city as more than a backdrop. It feels like a place where desire and danger are always close together.

Night Life jumps forward and shifts the action west to Los Angeles, where Davey and Casey Thorne are still trying to live with what happened. The move opens the series up a bit. New characters come in, including investigators Karen Moffett and Gavin Keoph, and the story gets bigger without losing the nasty streak that made the first book memorable. Old enemies have not forgotten Davey, and vampires do not really let grudges go.

Across both books, the ongoing thread is survival after transformation. Davey is forced to keep moving in a world he never asked to join, and every attempt at a normal life gets pulled back toward violence. The tone is fast, ugly, and darkly funny in places, but it is never soft.

If you want Ray Garton doing vampires with teeth, this is the place to start. Read Live Girls first, then Night Life. The two books connect cleanly, and together they show exactly why Garton became such a big name for readers who like their horror meaner and less romantic.