Amazon Product Description:
Eighteen year old Rick Thompson is a marked man. When Damien Masonite comes to his school, he knows something is up. And when his friends start falling to vampire attacks, he knows that he and his girlfriend Laura are next. The quest to understand immortality, true love and undying friendship compromise his safety even more. Can he keep his best friends, his true love and keep his mortal life?
My thoughts:
This is a new look at vampires and the question of immortality. I enjoyed the questions that the characters seem to be asking throughout the story about love, friendship, the meaning of life, and of course what is to be immortal. I liked the relationships between the characters, but I felt that they were less realistic than what could have be created with such great questions being asked. I did however appreciate the attempts that John was making to reevaluate and change his relationship with Tracy from that of teenagers to one of mature adults where they could talk about and work through problems and set backs. I was pleased that Rick found peace and closure, although hard won, in his dealings with John and Tracy. I was sad to find myself disliking Damien so much, I usually like the vampire in the stories that I read. I was excited that Bobby survives and finds himself on the road to recovery, from his own sense of worthlessness as well as from his vampire encounters. I was thrilled that Rick and Laura are able to remain mortal and get on with their lives; having found the answers they had been seeking about themselves, each other, immortality, love and the power of friendship. The story doesn't flow as smoothly as I had hoped it would, but the plot is fairly intriguing. I think that if the book had been longer it would have been an opportunity for the author to flesh out the characters and smooth the edges a bit more. Although this isn't my favorite vampire story, I look forward to more books by Derek Clendening....I believe the best is yet to come.
