The Mystery Starts Here

First of all I have to tell you, I’m not a big fan of vampire books. Oh, I’ve read some of course, but I just don’t'get it.’So why am I so enthused about a vampire book? Because this one is soooo different. There are no hot sex scenes, no blood gushing from necks with vamps slurpeing scenes. Nope, this is a quiet little book that almost makes you believe vampires are real and they live among us.

The entire book is narrated by fourteen-year-old, Ariella Montero, who is half vampire and half human. She spent the first thireen years of her life in exile from both species. Now, you don’t have to read the first book in the series, “The Society of S,” but I strongly recommend that you do. It explains all the characters, their interactions and just why Ariella was raised solely by her vampire father.

“The Year of Disappearances” takes place mainly in Florida where Ariella – Ari for short, now lives with her mother. They are in the process of rebuilding their home after a hurricane destroyed it. Someone is stalking Ari and she is determined to find out who. Yes, she lives like a human, going about in daylight, but must put on strong sunscreen to prevent a bad burn. She can also read minds, hypnotize people and become invisible. The vamps in this book are mainly vegetarians – they eat fish, and take suppliments so they don’t have to drink human blood. Are you hooked yet?

Ari makes friends with two of the local teenage girls, only to have one of them disappear. Because of something that happened in the first book (I don’t want to spoil it for you) the FBI is once again looking at Ari. She and her mother decide it’s time for Ari to go to college – even though she’s only fourteen. She was home-schooled by her father and is brillient. At college, Ari starts to fall in love – and that brings up a whole host of other problems for Ari.

I could go on and on but I have other books to read and blog about. Susan Hubbard is one of the best authors I’ve ever read. She uses all five senses in her lyrical writing making the reader truly feel she’s there, in the story. I lived in Florida for a number of years and got to hate the heat, humidity and bugs but after reading “The Year of Disappearances,” I wanted to go and live there again!

So, run out NOW  and get a copy of “The Society of S,” and then read “The Year of Disappearances.” Then come back and let us know what you think. Personally, I can’t WAIT for the further adventures of Ari and the rest of her vampire nest.

I thought I’d give Scottloine another try. She’s a good writer but…it seems she has problems with characters and plot! Yeah, what else is there?

The book started out okay – made me laugh at the the south Philly Italians. However, it went down hill rapidly. One of Attorney Mary DiNunzio’s old high school friends comes to her for help. Her long time live-in boyfriend is beating her and she’s afraid he’s going to kill her. Everything Mary suggests, Trish, the friend, refuses and she finally storms out of Mary’s office. When Trish goes missing, Mary spends the rest of the book trying to find her.

First of all, the book is WAY too long at 413 pages. I don’t mind long books if they hold my interest. This one didn’t and I started skimming half-way through the book. There were SOOO many redundancies I wanted to scream – YOU TOLD US ALREADY! I don’t know – maybe Scottoline is getting paid by the word. Another huge problem for me was,  I didn’t like the main character. She starts out being a dishrag, and letting everyone walk all over her. Then when she discovers Trish gone, she drops everything and everyone in her pursuit to FIND TRISH, a girl who doesn’t like Mary and whom Mary’s not real fond of either – why? She is so tenacious she becomes a real pain in the butt. She bugs the police, she ignores her job, she’s just really unlikeable.

Eventually we get body and Mary goes even further. By this time there are far too many coincidences and a lot of Deus ex machina – I groaned, a lot. Mary follows clues that seem to pop up out of nowhere until finally we get to THE END. I won’t spoil it for you in case you want to take on “Lady Killer,” but I have to say I was dumbfounded by the end. Usually in a mystery you want to find out whodunit. You try to follow the clues and exclude the red herrings until that wonderful AH HA moment. You won’t have that in this book because I’ll bet real money you could never figure out who the killer is. Instead of an AH HA moment, it’s more of a HUH? moment.

Once I write a negative blog, I go to www.amazon.com to check out the book’s comments there. I want to see if it’s just me or others feel the the way I do. Well, I am not alone. I’m reading a FABULOUS book now and will tell you all about it when I finish – soon!