A riveting novel with indelible, sympathetic characters battling vicious bloodsuckers.
In Ross’ supernatural tale, a music-festival weekend turns into a fight for survival when vampires attack.
Alix Summerlin plans to spend three days partying at the Garlic Groove Music Festival in Oregon. She’s with a small group from Nevada State University including her best friend, Zoe Danvers, and her heartbroken ex, Logan Ward, whom Alix dumped just days prior when he brought up marriage. In the midst of loud music, beer, and a bong hit or two, a stranger wearing black catches Alix’s eye. He’s Kade, the “handsomest person” she’s ever seen, and an enigma; he seems indifferent to Alix, a beautiful young woman who’s grown accustomed to guys fawning over her. But the festival crowd suddenly erupts into panic, and people start disappearing. Vampires, Alix and friends quickly learn, have targeted the festival-goers, devouring some and capturing others. The NSU pals, along with Kade and a local named Ethan “Frog” Park (who knows quite a bit about vamps in the area), search for a refuge before they become someone’s next meal. Ross immediately sets the mood for this horror-themed outing as multiple characters ominously warn Alix to be careful. The vibrant cast demonstrates distinctive personalities: Alix is considered an “Ice Queen” for ruthlessly breaking off relationships, Zoe is the group’s much-needed peacekeeper, and Frog provides helpful vampiric intel (like the three “stages” of vampires’ formidability). Punctuated by bursts of action, much of the narrative unfolds like an apocalypse has already hit as the once-blaring festival grows “eerily silent” and Alix and others pass farms with no humans or animals in sight. This approach makes for a slow pace, leaving plenty of time for potential romance between Alix and Kade to develop. Things really pick up in the final act, courtesy of one person’s courage and several plot turns that, while exciting, are also predictable.
A riveting novel with indelible, sympathetic characters battling vicious bloodsuckers.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780988256866
Page Count: 330
Publisher: Ic13 Books
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Vintage King: a pleasure for his many fans and not a bad place to start if you’re new to him.
The master of supernatural disaster returns with four horror-laced novellas.
The protagonist of the title story, Holly Gibney, is by King’s own admission one of his most beloved characters, a “quirky walk-on” who quickly found herself at the center of some very unpleasant goings-on in End of Watch, Mr. Mercedes, and The Outsider. The insect-licious proceedings of the last are revisited, most yuckily, while some of King’s favorite conceits turn up: What happens if the dead are never really dead but instead show up generation after generation, occupying different bodies but most certainly exercising their same old mean-spirited voodoo? It won’t please TV journalists to know that the shape-shifting bad guys in that title story just happen to be on-the-ground reporters who turn up at very ugly disasters—and even cause them, albeit many decades apart. Think Jack Torrance in that photo at the end of The Shining, and you’ve got the general idea. “Only a coincidence, Holly thinks, but a chill shivers through her just the same,” King writes, “and once again she thinks of how there may be forces in this world moving people as they will, like men (and women) on a chessboard.” In the careful-what-you-wish-for department, Rat is one of those meta-referential things King enjoys: There are the usual hallucinatory doings, a destiny-altering rodent, and of course a writer protagonist who makes a deal with the devil for success that he thinks will outsmart the fates. No such luck, of course. Perhaps the most troubling story is the first, which may cause iPhone owners to rethink their purchases. King has gone a far piece from the killer clowns and vampires of old, with his monsters and monstrosities taking on far more quotidian forms—which makes them all the scarier.
Vintage King: a pleasure for his many fans and not a bad place to start if you’re new to him.Pub Date: April 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9821-3797-7
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
A unique story of transcendent love.
An aimless young musician meets the girl of his dreams only to have his newfound happiness threatened by several inexplicable—and possibly supernatural—events.
The story opens as Leeds Gabriel meets with a detective while his girlfriend, Layla, is restrained in a room one flight above them. Through the interview, readers learn that Leeds was wasting both his time and his musical talent playing backup for a small-town wedding troupe called Garrett’s Band when he spied Layla dancing her heart out to their mediocre music at a wedding. When Leeds approaches Layla, their connection is both instant and intense. A blissful courtship follows, but then Leeds makes the mistake of posting a picture of himself with Layla on social media. A former girlfriend–turned-stalker wastes no time in finding and attacking Layla. Layla spends months recovering in a hospital, and it seems the girl Leeds fell for might be forever changed. Gone is her special spark, her quirkiness, and the connection that had entranced Leeds months before. In a last-ditch effort to save their relationship, he brings Layla back to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. When they get there, though, Leeds meets Willow, another guest, and finds himself drawn to her in spite of himself. As events unfold, it becomes clear that Willow will either be the key to saving Leeds’ relationship with Layla or the catalyst that finally extinguishes the last shreds of their epic romance. Told entirely from Leeds’ point of view, the author’s first foray into paranormal romance does not disappoint. Peppered with elements of mystery, psychological thriller, and contemporary romance, the novel explores questions about how quickly true love can develop, as well as the conflicts that can imperil even the strongest connections. Despite a limited cast of characters and very few setting changes, the narrative manages to remain both fast-paced and engaging. The conclusion leaves a few too many loose ends, but the chemistry between the characters and unexpected twists throughout make for a satisfying read.
A unique story of transcendent love.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5420-0017-8
Page Count: 301
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
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