Damned

September 19, 2011
In the middle book of Holder and Viguié's trilogy (following Crusade), vampires and werewolves have gone public, and much of the world has fallen under their malevolent sway. Small, scattered bands of freedom fighters and hunters resist their growing domination, but they're losing ground due to battle-inflicted attrition and lack of public support. A band of hunters stationed in Salamanca, Spain, feels mounting pressure from all sides: the Church wants to shut down their school, a Russian vampire is creating hybrid supersoldiers, and infighting and lack of trust is weakening morale. New leader Jenn and her conflicted vampire boyfriend, Antonio, want to be together, but when he's kidnapped by his makers, his bloodlust and cursed nature may mean the death of the relationship. This globetrotting supernatural adventure is fueled by tight sequencing, a sprawling international cast, cross-species romance, and high-stakes conflict. The authors effectively build political and moral tension, drawing parallels between WWII resistance cells and contemporary freedom fighters, making it a robust addition to a crowded genre. Ages 14âup.

July 15, 2011

This trilogy's second act (Crusade, 2010) delivers less romance and more violence, but neither plot nor characters develop much.

Vampires have achieved world domination, but despite high-profile mass murder (the story opens with the running of the humans in Pamplona), little notice is taken. While life (contemporary consumer culture) goes on "under the fang," pockets of resistance survive, including the Salamanca-based team of jet-setting first responders now led by American Jenn, mentored by mysterious Father Juan and supplemented by an Israeli and a Palestinian (united against the vampire threat). From Spain, their dismal itinerary takes them to rural Russia, Montana's dustier corners and Las Vegas, somewhat improved by undead takeover. The derivative plot drinks deep from the Buffy gene pool; clichéd cultural labels serve as characterization. Long orgies of killing are interspersed with chaste, romantic interludes garnished by unrequited love—lust is strictly of the blood variety. Weapons range from high tech (Uzis) to old-fashioned (wooden stakes, teeth and fangs). The novel achieves life only in scenes of detailed violence, vivid, breathless descriptions of pain and death.

Characters ostensibly serve some vaguely spiritual higher good, but as the body count mounts, the ecumenical blather proves to be a fig leaf covering a near-pornographic celebration of all the ways we kill. (Horror. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

November 1, 2011

Gr 8 Up-In a cataclysmic present day, the Cursed Ones-vampires-are the epitome of evil, and cities the world over are crumbling under their brutality. A band of specially trained humans led by Jenn Leitner has sworn to hunt and kill them. Then the vampires release a brutal army of scientifically engineered vampire/werewolf/human super-soldiers. Confrontations escalate. With nearly two dozen regularly appearing or referenced characters, the relationships in this action-packed, occasionally violent and bloody story are challenging to keep straight. Who has a crush on whom? Who has a vendetta against whom? Who has what special skill or power? Religion, particularly Catholicism, and witchcraft are themes throughout. Skye, one of the hunters, is a white witch who uses her "magick" to heal and cast nonviolent spells. Father Juan, the priest who trained Jenn's group, prays. Toward the end of the book, the story turns preachy. Skye tells Father Juan, "But in your world 'good'-well, that's a moving target, isn't it? The Crusades of the Middle Ages-you killed people like Taamir [an Arab hunter] by the hundreds of thousands." She continues, "In my world things are only good as long as no one is hurt." Then, to bring Antonio, a would-be priest turned vampire, back from evil, Father Juan"[sets] aside his Christian god" to aid Skye in "Drawing Down the Moon," a process described at length. The second in the trilogy, this book works as a stand-alone.-Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Library, NC

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