Senior
Year BitesSeries:
The Clanless, Book 1
By
J. A. Campbell
Genres:
YA Urban Fantasy
Published:
July 7 2014
Word
count: 54 000
Pages:
223
ASIN:
B00LKPBB8E
Price:
eBook:
3.99
eBook
Buy Links:
MY REVIEW:
Megan is a newly
made vampire trying to hide her affliction from her mother and finish
high school. I thought this book was really clever. The writing is
really good. The pacing is good. The book starts with Megan already
being a vampire, the explanation is short: she was playing truth or
dare, spent the night in a graveyard, died and awoke a vampire. Then
the story just moves on with Megan trying to go to school, hide from
the sun and find someone to feed her hunger without getting caught.
It brings up the question: If you were suddenly made into a vampire,
what would you do? Try to go on with your life as if nothing had
happened, like Megan? Go off on your own? Try to find other vampires?
It is an interesting concept. Later in the book some mysterious
things start happening and Megan's story starts to get really
exciting. I was enjoying this book a lot. 4 stars.
Blurb:
Senior
year is supposed to be fun: boys, dances and graduation. It's
significantly harder to enjoy it when you're dead.
Thanks
to an innocent game of Truth or Dare, I wound up sleeping in a
graveyard. Probably not the brightest thing I've ever done, but
thanks to a couple of well-placed fangs, I'm here to tell the tale.
Vampires
might stalk pop culture, but they’re just myths, right? Yeah. Not
so much...
Everything
seems a lot more difficult when you’re a nocturnal creature of the
night, especially school. I was managing, but couldn't keep it hidden
from my friends. Steph decided that we should be cool, like
superheroes, and fight crime.
I’m
a vampire, not a hero. Living in a sleepy New England town, crime is
a little harder to come by. At least it is until a serial killer
moves into the area. He’s got the authorities stumped, but then
again, the cops don’t have a teenage, blood-sucking, non-hero on
their team. It doesn't take long for me to discover the world is full
of monsters. I may be one of them…but will I turn out to be the
hero, or the killer everyone is looking for.
Excerpt:
Chapter
1
I
had plans for my last year of high school. I was going to find a
boyfriend, go to a few dances, and though I hadn't told my mom yet,
take some beginning paramedic courses in the spring. I wasn't
entirely sure what I wanted to do with my life– wasn't that what
college was for? I liked the idea of being a hero, like my dad, and
saving lives every day. That had been the plan anyway, but a
sleepover and a late-night dare had changed everything.
A
lot.
"Megan,
time for school," Mom called up the stairs.
I
peeked out the window, squinting at the sunlight glinting off the
windshield of my Jeep. It was too damn sunny for me to get from my
house to the Jeep without third degree burns–or worse.
"Honey?"
My
newly sensitive ears could hear the soft brush of her socks on the
carpet as she walked up the stairs. I crawled back into bed and did
my best to look tired and sick. It wasn't hard with my pale skin, and
I hadn't been eating well. If I didn't let her get a good look at me,
she might buy that I had a cold or something. Another thought tickled
at the back of my mind. I could make her think I was sick. I shoved
the thought away in disgust. I wasn't going to use mind control on
someone I loved.
The
door creaked open and Mom walked in. My heart would have been
racing–if it still could.
"Megan?"
Mom's voice sounded full of concern.
I
groaned and pulled the covers down off my head. "Mmmm?"
"It's
time for school. You didn't come down for breakfast." Her flat
tone covered her worry with annoyance.
"I
don't feel well."
"Honey…."
"I
don't." I tried to make myself sound hoarse.
"You've
been eating so poorly. Try to eat, and then go to school. I'll write
a note for you."
I
faked a cough.
Mom
sighed. "You've been sick so much recently. Maybe you should go
to the doctor."
"No,
it's just a cold." I hadn't been "sick" that much. We
rarely saw the sun this time of year. As long as I wore sunglasses, a
hat, and long sleeves, I didn't burn. It was simply really
uncomfortable. I felt horrible for the deception, but what could I
do?
"It's
beautiful outside for a change. Go outside and get some fresh air."
I
panicked at the thought. "No, I just want to sleep." And I
did. So very much.
It
was hard enough to be awake at all on cloudy days; sunny ones were
pure torture.
"Meg."
My
stomach sank at the worry in Mom's voice, but I couldn't tell her
what was wrong. Not only wouldn't she understand, but I didn't want
to end up in the freaking loony bin when I claimed I was something
that didn't really exist.
"All
right, honey. Sleep well. I'll call in sick for you."
"Thanks."
I mentally shrank away from her concern and fought tears of
frustration. I didn't want my life to be full of lies, which put
distance between us. We had to take care of each other, but I could
only hide from her.
She
shut my door and left, quiet footsteps strangely loud in my ears. I
sighed and pulled the blanket over my head again.
My
life changed several weeks earlier at my best friend's ill-fated
birthday party. Well, ill-fated for me, anyway. Steph had a great
time.
Truth
or dare, a stupid game everyone I knew played at least once in their
lives. Afraid of the truth, I had chosen the dare–spend the rest of
the night in the graveyard near Steph's house. Easy enough, right?
Well, it had been up until the point where I was attacked and killed.
It wasn't something you normally walked away from, but for better or
for worse, I had.
Vampires
were in books, movies, and on TV, but I'd never believed they were
real. Still, it hadn't been hard to figure out what had happened to
me. Dealing with it was another story. It had taken several almost
disastrous mishaps–going for a walk in the bright sunshine had been
particularly painful–to convince me. Now, the cloudy New England
days that had been the bane of my existence provided my only
semblance of a normal life.
Predictably,
I felt better once night fell. I waited until my mom had been asleep
for a while before I dressed, pulling on the same pair of jeans I'd
worn earlier and a sweater over a fresh T-shirt. My hiking boots
completed the practical outfit. I liked practical, especially for
hunting.
Sliding
open my window, I climbed out on the
ledge.
I crouched there for a moment before ducking to slip through the
small opening, inhaling the crisp fall air. I shut my eyes, letting
my senses stretch out, getting in tune with the night. No one was
around. I couldn't fly, at least not yet, but I could slow my fall,
which allowed me to jump lightly to the ground out of a third-floor
bedroom window.
I
stalked out into the night, ravenous. Unable to resist the hunger, I
allowed it to drive me, guide me to prey. Tonight, as with most
nights, I headed to the next town over. It was less likely I would
run into anyone who knew me.
There
were bars in the college town, and bars meant easy prey, even for
someone underage. Mind control allowed me to get in, and I wouldn't
stand out among
the
other young patrons.
I
started to run, faster in death, or undeath, than anyone alive. My
new speed was one of the few advantages to being a vampire,
especially since I couldn't take my Jeep. It was more likely I'd get
caught if I took it, since Mom would notice its absence if she got up
at night.
The
ground sped past and trees flashed by; their shadows unable to hide
their mysteries from my sharp eyes. The night sounds–laughter here,
the snap of a twig over there–and smells assaulted my senses. The
extra senses had been the hardest thing to get used to: the extra
perception. Well, that and having to drink blood.
Both
revolted and enraptured, I pondered what I was about to do, drinking
someone's blood, taking away a little bit of their life to sustain my
own. I wasn't a killer. I couldn't bring myself to go that far and
saw no reason to. The alcohol in their blood didn't affect me, and it
did half the work for me. Their intoxicated brains gave my new mind
control powers enough of an edge that I could make them forget.
The
power made me feel strong and dangerous, but it also sent shivers of
terror through me. What if I wasn't strong enough to control it? What
would happen?
Loud
country music and the reek of stale beer hit me as I flashed my ID at
the bouncer, batted my eyes, and tweaked his brain. He nodded and
waved me into the crowded bar. I pushed into the tightly packed mass
of humanity and started hunting for likely prey. A small dance floor
took up space in the back, and several giggling women were trying to
line dance.
I
needed someone male, alone, and drunk for this to work properly in my
head. Getting that close to a girl was something I couldn't yet bring
myself to do. I spotted a potential subject in the back. He appeared
to be in his early twenties, cute, and drinking heavily. I started
his way and jumped when a hand touched my shoulder. Some cool
huntress of the night I was.
"Yes?"
I turned to face the owner of the hand. Young enough to still be in
college, he had dark brown hair and eyes, and a nice tan. His winning
smile made me feel butterflies all the way down to my toes.
"I've
seen you in here before. I'm Gary."
He
smiled again, apparently trying to be friendly, but he wasn't drunk
enough to suit my needs.
"Hi.
I'm Bridget." I didn't want to give him my real name. I did
smile back, unable to resist his grin.
Then
what he said clicked. He'd seen me in here before. Damn. Sloppy. It
looked like I wasn't going to find dinner here tonight.
"Can
I buy you a drink?"
I
improvised. "No, thanks. I was looking for someone, and she
isn't here. I need to get going."
"Maybe
next time?"
"Maybe.
It was nice to meet you." I headed for the door, watching Gary
out of the corner of my eye. He went over to a table with a couple
other guys his age and gestured once at me before shrugging.
I
put them out of my mind, hunger driving me to the sports bar and my
next meal.
Teasers:
"Well,"
Ann paused, "do you have fangs?"
"Yeah."
"Cool. Let's see."
"Yeah."
"Cool. Let's see."
"Hi,
Johnny. How are you?"
"Fine.
Mom tells me you've turned into a vampire."
I choked. "What?"
I choked. "What?"
"I
can probably teach you some, but it will be different for you.
Vampire society is more lethal. The Sidhe are not less dangerous,
just less quick to kill. There are plenty of other things they can do
to make your life miserable. Death is too easy. Vampires, well...they
are killers. That's what they do. Staying alive is a complicated
dance through politics." ~Alexander
Author
Bio:
J.A.
Campbell
Julie
has been many things over the last few years, from college student,
to bookstore clerk and an over the road trucker. She’s worked as a
911 dispatcher and in computer tech support, but through it all she’s
been a writer and when she’s not out riding horses, she can usually
be found sitting in front of her computer. She lives in Colorado with
her three cats, her vampire-hunting dog Kira, her new horse and
Traveler-in training, Triska, and her Irish Sailor.She is the author
of many Vampire and Ghost-Hunting Dog stories and the young adult
fantasy series Tales of the Travelers. She’s a member of the Horror
Writers Association and the Dog Writers of America Association and
the editor for Steampunk Trails fiction magazine.
Website:
www.writerjacampbell.com
Twitter:
@Pfirewolf
Thank you for having me!!!
ReplyDeleteJulie