Hi Everyone,
Check out my review of Amanda Bonilla's debut novel Shaedes of Gray. I think those who are looking for something new in the paranormal genre as well as like romance and action mixed in the books they read will enjoy this book. You can find this review and other on my book review website Blood Rose Books.
Cheers!!!!
This looks like a good read...something different too, LOL! It's out in May:
Nursing school prepared Edie Spence for a lot of things. Burn victims? No problem. Severed limbs? Piece of cake. Vampires? No way in hell. But as the newest nurse on Y4, the secret ward hidden in the bowels of County Hospital, Edie has her hands full with every paranormal patient you can imagine--from vamps and were-things to zombies and beyond...
Edie's just trying to learn the ropes so she can get through her latest shift unscathed. But when a vampire servant turns to dust under her watch, all hell breaks loose. Now she's haunted by the man's dying words--"Save Anna"--and before she knows it, she's on a mission to rescue some poor girl from the undead. Which involves crashing a vampire den, falling for a zombie, and fighting for her soul. "Grey's Anatomy" was never like this...
SciFiCanuck wrote:This looks like a good read...something different too, LOL! It's out in May:
Looks good (and possibly funny), Nice catch!... but went to add to my Nook Wishlist and Oh Snap, "Creation Limit has be reached" (or some such rot). I don't have that many on the list, so I'm with the multitudes of others out there crying for B&N to fix the wishlist already.... (haven't been able to add to the Ebook list since november, now can't see it at all)
I'm back to sticky notes to keep track of my wishlist... 
j-91 wrote:Hi Everyone,
Check out my review of Amanda Bonilla's debut novel Shaedes of Gray. I think those who are looking for something new in the paranormal genre as well as like romance and action mixed in the books they read will enjoy this book. You can find this review and other on my book review website Blood Rose Books.
Cheers!!!!
The romantic elements didn't hold a lot of interest for me either. I'm a paranormal adventure/thriler/mystery fan, so romance is a take it or leave it proposition for me. IMO, the main character, conflict, twisting revelations and world-building are excellent and well worth the read. Here's what I wrote about Shaedes of Gray in the 'What are you currently reading' thread:
I just finished
Shaedes of Gray. I really enjoyed it! I can't remember why I picked it up, but I was completely entertained by this book. It's written in the first person voice of the Shaede assassin protagonist, Darian. I loved her because she's prickly, arrogant and fiercely independent. If you're looking for sensitivity and/or emotional maturity, you will not like her. She's petulant, emotionally closed off, snarky and selfish. She's also brave, rebellious and essentially humble. She's a breath of fresh air--an explosive and fiery woman.
Well, Darian's not technically a woman anymore. In the early 1900s, after her family married her off to a successful doctor who proceeded to savagely abuse her, she was saved by a Shaede named Azriel. When she woke from the beating, she had become a Shaede, a supernaturally strong and fast being capable of instantaneous disincorporation and reassembly during the hours of nightfall. She became Azriel's lover and his apprentice assassin for 25 years, but he never answered her questions about Shaedes and how she came to be. He simply told her that she was made, and that they were the last Shaedes in existence. Then he disappeared, and she took up the assassin trade killing only morally corrupt human marks.
The book starts with a stereotypical romantic relationship. Tyler is Darian's handler. She trusts and is 'irresistibly' attracted to him. Yeah, I know, blah, blah, blah. But Darian is made of stronger stuff than most heroines. She manages to evade Tyler and holds him at arms length. As I mentioned earlier, Darian is emotionally closed off. She's been burned by her abusive husband and abandoned by her Shaede lover. She denies herself any type of romantic/emotional bond. Some would say that she's a *itch because of the way she treats Tyler. Personally, I was just a bit bored with it. If you don't want Tyler in your life, well, then kick him out--problem solved. Don't tease yourself. Note, Tyler is hot and apparently appealed to several on-line reviewers. <Shrugs.> He's too clingy for my tastes.
Anyway, the book takes off when Darian is given a new hit that turns out to be the King of the Shaede. His name is Xander (Alexander) and he easily evades her assassination attempt, He hires Darian to kill an unidentified someone who threatens the Shaede nation. She takes on the job hoping to learn of her abilities/limitations as well as other Shaedes. But, she balks at the superior tone Xander takes with her and fears that she will be expected to obey him in the future. So, she tries to quit and is easily kidnapped by other Shaedes for her trouble.
Xander is infuriating and condescending, but sexually appealing to Darian. She has a lust/hate relationship with him, and eventually learns that she has a quasi incestuous connection with him. Some found the attraction between Xander and Darian to be creepy. Not me! I figured that supernatural creatures who have lived for centuries don't abide by the same rules as we limited humans. Plus, there was no incestuous blood bond and, as it turns out, no mystical bond connecting Darian with Xander.
When Darian learns about the Shaede nation, she's embarrassed, frustrated and angry with herself. For 100 years she believed that she was the only supernatural in existence, and her ignorance infuriates her. She also very funny when interacting with Xander. He's insufferable, and she mocks him when she can get away with it.
The narrative is dynamic and serpentine. Darian wonders why she has been hired, and has questions about the identity of the hit. She's put into training with an uncompromising Shaede warrior named Raif. Here's how Darian first describes Raif:
The Shaede met my height almost exactly and had a lean and wiry build rippled with muscles. He looked lethal and that was a huge thing for me to admit. His clear blue eyes glowed in the faint light. Hair the color of spun gold was pulled back at the nape of his neck and tied with a length of leather cord. Dressed in an antiquated getup, he looked like a cross between Legolas and Robin Hood -- and was just young enough to pull it off.
A cold smile that would have surely frozen flames midlficker danced across his hardened face, showing a glimpse of the killer in him. Absent any spark of humor, and in its place, only cruel calculation and intelligence. He was a frightening creature, and I instantly like him.
The twisting plot is exciting and surprising. Darian slowly finds out that everyone has been dishonest with her. One unexpected revelation follows another as Darian tries to unravel the part she has to play in a shadowy plot that threatens the Shaede nation. The story culminates with an astonishing series of twists leading to an explosive climax. Then, a closing segment resolves an outstanding loose end, but the threat to Darian and the Shaede continues.
Note, there's a smorgasbord of supernatural creatures in this book including an oracle, jinn and slyps. The most significant is a preying mantis like species called Lythans. Seven feet tall with distended limbs, a drooling mouth and a protruding abdomen, Lythans are the hateful cousins of Shaedes known for sucking out the dissolved internal organs of their prey. Lythans have the ability to disappear in sunlight and are virtually invulnerable during they day. The setting is also an entertaining contemporary Seattle.
I recommend this book to all those who like a twisting and unpredictable contemporary fantasy narrated by a prickly, sometimes insufferable but decidedly dynamic heroine.
P.S. After posting my impressions of the book, I remember why I bought it in the first place. It was listed by RT Book Reviews as a nominee for best UF protagonist of 2011, and that listing lead me to the following review. (For 2011 RT book nominees see RT Book Review’s 2011 Award Nominees Announced.)
RT BOOK REVIEW
SHAEDES OF GRAY
by Amanda Bonilla
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
2011 Urban Fantasy Protagonist Nominee
RT Rating
Nearly a century ago, Darian was an abused wife transformed by her lover into an immortal Shaede who can slip in and out of darkness effortlessly. But after telling her they are the last of their kind, Azriel abandons her. To survive, Darian uses her unique skills to become an assassin. For the last five years, Darian has contracted with Tyler, who vets her assignments and watches her back. Then her newest assignment shatters Darian’s view as it turns out her target is the King of the Shaede Nation — a nation Darian didn’t know existed. Suddenly Darian is thrust into a budding supernatural war and must find her way carefully, for nothing and no one is as it seems. (SIGNET ECLIPSE, Dec., 336 pp., $7.99)
Reviewed By: Jill M. Smith (See RT link SHAEDES OF GRAY.)
I don't particularly enjoy romance books, but I really enjoyed the delicious and compelling story spun within Firelight.
Within this book a spunky (and supernaturally enhanced) heroine agrees to marry the masked and socially isolated Lord Archer. The setting is a very atmospheric Victorian London. The romance starts with the hero’s attraction toward a nineteen-year-old girl. Three years later he offers her marriage and a life of comfort. An arms-length marriage results offering scenes occasionally reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera.
The book is primarily written from the dueling perspectives of the heroine, Miranda Archer nee Ellis, and the hero, Lord Benjamin Archer. Miranda and Archer are archetypes, but both convey sincere emotion as they slowly grow to trust one another despite the secrets they hide. A fiend, masquerading as Lord Archer, causes suspicion to fall on him for ritualistic murders. Periodic attacks upon Miranda and Archer inject a further layer of action.
The book culminates in a desperate and exciting showdown. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romantic supernatural adventures/mysteries. Note, I can’t really remember any steampunk elements in this book. I suppose that steampunk could be extended to a transformative process w/in the book, but, IMO, it‘s simply a supernatural element.
My review:
Book releases on 2/23/12
The Gathering Storm (The Katerina Trilogy, Vol.I)
This turned out to be a suspenseful supernatural complex tale that I thoroughly enjoyed here is my spoiler free review:
I finished When We Were Executioners about 2 days ago. It's a visceral and darkly lyrical read.
This book is the follow-up to Never Knew Another which began this unique and powerful trilogy. Similar to the first book, When We Were Executioners follows two different plot lines. The starting plot line is narrated in the first person by an unnamed shapeshifting Walker who wears a wolfskin, and, together with her Walker husband/mate, hunts human-demon hybrids within a brutal, squalid and semi-medieval city known only as Dogsland. The second plot-line is written in the third person and follows the memories of a deceased king's man named Lord Jona. His demon-kin body was discovered by the Walkers within Never Knew Another. After removing his skull and praying to her god, the female Walker has managed to assimilate the somewhat scattered life memories of Lord Jona which has led to the discovery of two other demon-kin within the city walls of Dogsland. One, named Rachel Nolander, became Jona's love. The other, named Salvatore, is under the protection of an influential crime lord known as the Night King.
The two plot lines alternate, but the memories of Lord Jona dominate with scenes of unthinking violence, brutal corruption and pervasive squalor sprinkled with instances of childlike naivety, pointless kindness, clumsy attraction and, eventually, the realization of love.
There's a stream of consciousness immersion which occurs when reading this book. Here's examples of lyrical yet terse prose:
'Rachel and Jona were lovers, but not quite yet.
'Windows closed nearly all at once when homebound women saw the sunlight darken and return and darken again with the salt smell of the sea rain and the strong wind. Jona did not close Rachel's window. He leaned out backwards as far as he could with his boots hooked under a bed. He looked straight up into the silver clouds, all of them lambent from the swallowed sun.'
"In a wolf pack, the insurrection is always one meal away. Who rules the pack can change in a single swipe of antlers. Every wolf hunts. Every wolf dies."
'Jona walked the round with a dangerous-looking hooked halberd. When he found a dead body, he dragged it on the hook to the nearest large sewer grate. He hooked the grate open. Jona tugged the body into the grate, and closed it shut. The bodies piled up inside the sewers. In other neighborhoods, a body might be checked for identifying things--jewelry or papers--and perhaps the family would be contacted. In the Pens district--and the Warehouses and anywhere else the working poor might call home--bodies were pulled into the sewers before anyone got sick with the diseases of the poor.'
'Her eyes were sunk into her face. Her lips were grey as charcoal. Her nose was still bandaged up, but nobody had changed the bandage in a week. The cloth was a green and black, like a snail in a burlap shell on her face. It wasn't demon stain infesting her nose, just gangrene.'
'Jona cut his own palm, not very deep, along the same healed line that he had used when he had condemned Aggie. He grabbed the Senta's ear, and shoved the prisoner's skull sideways. Blood dripped, burning like acid, into the Senta's head, exposing the skull beneath the skin.
'The Senta screamed.'
"I'm sorry about this,' said Jona. "Believe it or not, I don't want to kill you."
'The Senta didn't seem to hear anything. Jona watched his own blood burning down the side of the man's face. He watched the skin boil and singe with the demon blood, and the clothing burn where the blood ran. Jona pressed his hand into the Senta's eyes. They melted like ice cubes in the acid.'
"This city is built on mud. You and me, and all the people like us. We're the mud. We're holding everything up and wriggling around, pushing things up out of the mud and pulling 'em back down agin. Night King is the power of the mud."
'Candlelight surround a pool of pillows. Men and women lay in heaps on the pillows. They clutched at the thin ends of a huge hookah, like a giant glass tree reaching out rubber branches to the men laid low on the pillows. A mound of slowly churning pink weed smoke bubbled up through the water. Men sucked on little hoses.'
'Her body was blackened bones below her waist. Her chest charred from smoke. The stink of cooked fat hung in the air. She pulled at the bonds over her head, pulling herself up higher and higher out of the fire. Her hand were still human. They reached and reached up. Rachel watched the girl's hands. In the back of her mind, an old rhyme popped up unwanted.'
'The sun patch slowly crawled over the thin sheets. Rachel crawled with it, deeper into Jona's skin.'
(See Paul Goat Allen's blog review at Just Another Skull in the Wall: J.M. McDermott’s Dogsland Trilogy is Dirty, Dark and Deep Fantasy.)
Here is a sneak peak at my review, it will go live tomorrow on my blog..but wanted to share with you all first 
Spoiler free ....
Royal Street is the first in a brand new urban fantasy series entitled Sentinels of New Orleans by author Suzanne Johnson. The tale takes place against the backdrop of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Johnson beautifully captures New Orleans, some of its most famous citizens and creates a fresh new fantasy world. While this first novel deals a lot with establishing this new world, I found the tale and the characters to be delightful. This tale contains wizards, assassins, Fae, elves, vampires, shape-shifters and more. With Kim Harrison’s series the Hollows winding down, I am excited about this new series.
The protagonist is twenty-five year-old Drusilla Jane Jaco.( DJ for short.) She is a junior wizard and empathy. She is employed as the deputy sentinel in New Orleans. Gerald St. Simon has been her mentor and father-figure since the age of seven. DJ is a Green Congress wizard who specializes in rituals and spells. She is eager to learn more and take on more responsibilities. She gets her first chance when Gerald asks her to send pirate Jean Lafitte back to the other realm after he was summoned. Jean Lafitte offers DJ a deal, one she refuses. After trapping him she sends him back to the Otherworld. As he leaves he swears revenge. When warnings start coming in of a hurricane bearing down on New Orleans, Gerry orders DJ to head out of town to her grandmother’s in Alabama. Gerry stays behind to watch the borders of the Beyond. When fluctuating barometric pressure happens during a hurricane, it opens doors that keep the Pretes (supernatural beings) in their world. Left unchecked they would begin crossing over and causing problems for the humans who reside in New Orleans. Reluctantly she agrees, but when Gerald ends up missing, she is ordered back to New Orleans. DJ returns home, to find her home spared and Jean Lafitte in her home seeking revenge. Without time to invoke a spell, DJ has to use her wits to save herself, and just when it looks like she might have the upper hand, Alex an enforcer for the Elders rushes in like Rambo and shoots Lafitte, sending him back to the Otherworld. She learns she is now the Sentinel for New Orleans and the Elders have sent Alex to assist her. DJ’s main concern is finding Gerry and GI Alex is not about to stop her. The tale that unfolds is actions packed, as DJ and Alex search for Gerry and try to stop a killer using voodoo.
The characters in this novel are interesting and unique. I easily connected with DJ. She is bright, feisty and determined. The thoughts that pop into her head were a riot and reminded me of a younger Charley from Darynda Jones fantastic Charley Davidson series. I cannot thank Johnson enough for creating a heroine who isn’t winey and doesn’t need a man to make it all better. DJ is not a kick-ass in this novel. In fact she spends almost the entire novel in various shades of black and blue. Johnson hints of DJ’s untapped powers and we learn some unique things about her that have me excited to watch this young protagonist grow into a kick-ass warrior. Combine that with her ability to piece things together, negotiate with those in the Otherworld and think outside the box, DJ has the potential to be one of my favorite heroines. Alex is a likeable guy and while his FBI training can make him act like a neanderthal, he respects DJ and listens to her. We learn a little about his history, but I have a feeling there is more. His buddy Jake owns a bar called Gators and is ex-military. Watching the two of them try and stake a claim on DJ was delightful. Jean Lafitte is a giant flirt and a true pirate. I laughed at some of his antics. While there was sexual tension all the way around and it made the tale highly entertaining, no real romance developed and it was refreshing. Other characters from both sides were interesting and they all made the tale feel genuine.
Johnson’s world-building is wonderful, and I feel like I have a true sense of this world. Filled with every kind of supernatural creature the Otherworld is kept in check by the Elders and their sentinels. Johnson captures New Orleans beautifully, and the fact that she once resided there is apparent in her attention to detail. The way she wove historical facts and famous people in to this story made the tale seem genuine. I loved that the tale was narrated by DJ, and the humorous voice that Johnson gave her. I am truly looking forward to the next installment of this series.
Be sure and check out Johnson's website as she shows a detailed chart and explanation of the Wizard's World and hierarchy in Royal Street.
I highly recommend Royal Street to fans of urban fantasy. Fans of New Orleans and its history will also find this tale delightful. Royal Street will be published on April 10, 2012 by Tor publishing. It will be available in paper and eBook formats. Johnson’s other published work is entitled, Summer Gothic: A Collection of Southern Hauntings. It’s a collaboration of ghost tales with other authors. I am looking forward to reading more of her work.
I gave this novel 4 coffee cups out of 5.
Revenge Is Sweet, A Kali Sweet Urban Fantasy
Fans of the Hollows will love this series and it's protagonist. Here is my spoiler free review:
Revenge is Sweet is the first novel in the urban fantasy series Kali Sweet by award winning author Misty Evans. This adult-fiction offers an urban fantasy set in the windy city of Chicago. Filled with demons, vampires, witches and angels this fast-paced action packed novel keep me on the edge of my seat.
release date April 24, 2012
Here is part of my review:
Immortal Rules is the first in a new series by Iron Fey author Julia Kagawa. The Blood of Eden series is a dystopia that takes place sixty years after a virus killed off most of the world’s human population. The countryside has been abandoned and humans now reside in Vampire Cities. This was my first time reading Kagawa’s work and I found it to be absolutely delightful. It reminded me of a young adult version of one of my favorite books The Passage by Justin Cronin.
I actually just got the ebook versions of Charlaine Harris' books. I saw the series and after I heard that it was based off of a book (and knowing that many times, the book is better than the series/movie version - or atleast explains certain parts of the series/movie version - not to mention I love the story itself), I just had to read them.
I'm only on the first one, about 2-3 chapters in, but I love it. I love the way Charlaine writes the most - definitely unique!
What did you think of them?
indigobookworm wrote:I actually just got the ebook versions of Charlaine Harris' books. I saw the series and after I heard that it was based off of a book (and knowing that many times, the book is better than the series/movie version - or atleast explains certain parts of the series/movie version - not to mention I love the story itself), I just had to read them.
I'm only on the first one, about 2-3 chapters in, but I love it. I love the way Charlaine writes the most - definitely unique!
What did you think of them?
I like them. I started the books and had read a couple of them before watching season 1 of True Blood. I like that the TV show and the books are not the same. They are similar but each takes it in a little different direction.
kimba88 wrote:
release date April 24, 2012
Here is part of my review:
Immortal Rules is the first in a new series by Iron Fey author Julia Kagawa. The Blood of Eden series is a dystopia that takes place sixty years after a virus killed off most of the world’s human population. The countryside has been abandoned and humans now reside in Vampire Cities. This was my first time reading Kagawa’s work and I found it to be absolutely delightful. It reminded me of a young adult version of one of my favorite books The Passage by Justin Cronin...
Wow, Kimba. Thanks for the great review. I'm off to hunt this down and preorder it. I have so many books on my list (mainly the rest of the Rachel Morgan series) that need to be read, but based on your description and review I think this is going to move close to the top of my TBR.
I've come across a few Teen novels that sound like good ones... :-) I may download them to my Kindle.
This fast-paced YA debut novel has it all: smart, savvy characters making their way through an eerily dystopian society, with all the requisite action, adventure and romance characteristic of the genre vividly and at times, chillingly, portrayed.
In a wild and lawless future, where life is cheap and survival is hard, eighteen-year-old Saba lives with her father, her twin brother Lugh, her young sister Emmi and her pet crow Nero. Theirs is a hard and lonely life. The family resides in a secluded shed, their nearest neighbour living many miles away and the lake, their only source of water and main provider of food, gradually dying from the lack of rain. But Saba''s father refuses to leave the place where he buried his beloved wife, Allis, nine years ago. Allis died giving birth to Emmi, and Saba has never forgiven her sister for their mother''s death.
But while she despises Emmi, Saba adores her twin brother Lugh. Golden-haired and blue-eyed, loving and good, he seems the complete opposite to dark-haired Saba, who is full of anger and driven by a ruthless survival instinct. To Saba, Lugh is her light and she is his shadow, he is the day, she is the nighttime, he is beautiful, she is ugly, he is good, she is bad.
So Saba''s small world is brutally torn apart, when a group of armed riders arrives five day''s after the twin''s eighteenth birthday snatch Lugh away. Saba''s rage is so wild, that she manages to drive the men away, but not before they have captured Lugh and killed their father.
And here begins Saba''s epic quest to rescue Lugh, during which she is tested by trials she could not have imagined, and one that takes the reader on breathtaking ride full or romance, physical adventure and unforgettably vivid characters, making this a truly sensational YA debut novel.
A gorgeous urban fantasy about dangers outside and in.
Matthew has always lived in Safe, a community hidden far beneath the pipes and tunnels of the city Above. The residents fled to Safe years before to escape the Whitecoats and their cruel experiments, and now Matthew is responsible for both the keeping of Safe''s stories and for Ariel-a golden-haired shapeshifter, and the most beautiful girl he''s ever seen.
But one horrifying night, an old enemy murders Safe''s founder, Atticus, and the community is taken over by an army of shadows. Only Matthew, Ariel, and a handful of friends escape Above. Now they not only have to survive in a sunlit world they barely know, but they must unravel the mystery of the shadows'' fury and Atticus''s death. It''s up to Matthew to find a way to remake Safe-not just for himself and his family, but for Ariel, who''s again faced with the life she fled, and who needs him more than ever before.
An urban fantasy and a love story, Above is the breathtaking debut of an extraordinary new voice.
SciFiCanuck wrote:I've come across a few Teen novels that sound like good ones... :-) I may download them to my Kindle.
This fast-paced YA debut novel has it all: smart, savvy characters making their way through an eerily dystopian society, with all the requisite action, adventure and romance characteristic of the genre vividly and at times, chillingly, portrayed.
In a wild and lawless future, where life is cheap and survival is hard, eighteen-year-old Saba lives with her father, her twin brother Lugh, her young sister Emmi and her pet crow Nero. Theirs is a hard and lonely life. The family resides in a secluded shed, their nearest neighbour living many miles away and the lake, their only source of water and main provider of food, gradually dying from the lack of rain. But Saba''s father refuses to leave the place where he buried his beloved wife, Allis, nine years ago. Allis died giving birth to Emmi, and Saba has never forgiven her sister for their mother''s death.
But while she despises Emmi, Saba adores her twin brother Lugh. Golden-haired and blue-eyed, loving and good, he seems the complete opposite to dark-haired Saba, who is full of anger and driven by a ruthless survival instinct. To Saba, Lugh is her light and she is his shadow, he is the day, she is the nighttime, he is beautiful, she is ugly, he is good, she is bad.
So Saba''s small world is brutally torn apart, when a group of armed riders arrives five day''s after the twin''s eighteenth birthday snatch Lugh away. Saba''s rage is so wild, that she manages to drive the men away, but not before they have captured Lugh and killed their father.
And here begins Saba''s epic quest to rescue Lugh, during which she is tested by trials she could not have imagined, and one that takes the reader on breathtaking ride full or romance, physical adventure and unforgettably vivid characters, making this a truly sensational YA debut novel.
I've read Blood Red Road and really liked it. The next book in the series is Rebel Hearts due out October 30, 2012.
Released date May 10, 2012
The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda is the first in a brilliant new series. Fukuda has created a terrifying world in which vampires rule and humans are almost extinct. I consumed this dark tale in a few hours and it quickly became one of my favorite reads for 2012. Gone are the vampires that sparkle! In Fukuda’s dystopian world we hide among these vicious killers. This tale was fast paced, horrifying and delicious!
When the tale begins we meet seventeen year old, human protagonist Gene. He is in high school and trying to blend in. He knows the rules, his father taught him well. One slip and he will be devoured. Gene lives in a vampire world, where the day begins at dusk and ends at sunrise. He has been on his own since his father was bitten years ago. He is brilliant, but is careful not to stand out. Everyday is a challenge and only during daylight hours can he be himself. While at school it is announced that the ruler will address the nation. This causes immediate salivating and mass speculation amount the vampire students. The last time the ruler address the nation was ten years ago, when he announced a Heper Hunt. This is a huge event. Several heper’s (humans) are released into the wild, and a select few chosen by lottery get to hunt and devour them. *Gulp* You guessed it, there will be a new Heper Hunt and Gene as well as Ashley a young girl from his school are chosen to participate. Before Gene can even think, he is whisked away and taken along with seven others to the Heper Institute. Here they go through training, attend galas and prepare for the hunt. The tale that unfolds is splendid, steeped in horror and riddled with tension and fear. I was captivated from page one, quoting the book by chapter three and running to the computer to check for book two’s release date by the end. The ending wasn’t really a cliff-hanger but the last sentence just about blew my friggin mind.
