It's early in November as Detective Barbara Atkins arrives in the small rural town of Deadhart, Alaska when she sees lighC.J. Tudor Has Done It Again!
It's early in November as Detective Barbara Atkins arrives in the small rural town of Deadhart, Alaska when she sees lighted Christmas decorations everywhere quite unusual to see them up so early in the season but she will soon learn why although she's sure she knows the reason already and also knows her work ahead will not be easy. Deadhart is one of those towns where they they are experiencing thirty days of darkness except for a few hours of hazy daylight and Barbara wishes she didn't have to come to this dark, dismal and freezing town.
A teenager has been viciously murdered and drained of blood so she has been sent to investigate the killing since her specialty is in vampyr crimes. The town is in an uproar and Barbara must determine if a cull will be issued as the town wants and expects but Barbara will never make that decision unless she can't find the vampyr suspect responsible although the townspeople just want the whole Colony of vampyrs gone, exterminated, they don't want legal justice only vengeance.
A brutal snow storm complicates her job when more bodies are found and the angry townspeople are holding secrets from the past and the Colony hates the town as well so they have no interest in helping the detective and if she doesn't make a decision quickly there will be more lives at stake including her own.
Loved, loved, loved this horror/thriller! I can't get enough of C.J. Tudor's books and I hate when they come to an end because I have to impatiently wait while she writes her next horror novel. This was a new and fresh take on vampires and I thought everything about the story was spot-on while feeling the frigid cold and the anger and hatred was just oozing out of many characters. The atmosphere was eerie and downright creepy plus racism was brought forward of a different kind since vampyrs weren't quite human yet they weren't portrayed as the old vampire lore which was so intriguing.
The story wasn't a slow-burn but it wasn't action packed either until the last quarter of the book which was edge of your seat material. The character of Jensen Tucker became a favorite of mine and I hope another book or two can someday be written about this mysterious man who I think many readers may fall in love with as I did! There were many puzzles to solve within the story and every one was covered by the end of the book but it made me hope there will be more stories of vampyrs and Barbara in the future.
I highly recommend this book and as usual I can't wait to read this author's next book!
Many thanks to the publisher "Random House Publishing - Ballantine" for the opportunity to read this digital copy and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!
I have given a rating of 5 DANGEROUS AND GRITTY ...more