vampires

I think that Midnight Predator is one of Amelia Atwater Rhode's best books she has writen yet. I have been a fan of hers since I was in 6th grade, when my mom got me In the Forests of the Night.
Turquise Draka is a hunter of vampires for Crimson, one of the training buildings for vampire hunters. Here Turqusie has learned everything to fight a vampire, and is one of the best in Crimson. Her next assignment is to kill the vampire Jeshicah,she is one of the cruelest vampires in all of their history, but turquise isn't alone, she comes with Ravyn another of Crimsons best. But to kill Jeshicah they have to go to Midnight a vampire building where humans are slaves, so they discuise themselves as slaves.
I won't tell you any more because I don't want to spoil it for you. I garentee this is an exelent book, I've read it 3 times since I bought it. If you are a fan of Amelia Atwater Rhodes or your looking for a good horror book this is a must read. ...

Prior to this, Atwater-Rhodes' talents were more veiled in mediocrity with each book she wrote. I was surprised that I actually liked parts of "Midnight Predator." Atwater-Rhodes improves several of the weak areas of her previous books, but it was still quite flawed.

Turquoise Draka is a fighter for the Bruja witch guild, in competition for the elite Crimson with her rival Ravyn. After the two hit a stalemate, they are both approached by a mysterious businesswoman with a revelation and an offer. A vampire empire known as Midnight, once burned to the ground, has been rebuilt and repopulated by vampires and human slaves. And the savage vampire who founded Midnight, Jeshickah, may take control of it once more. An unknown employer wants some experienced fighters to kill Jeshickah. The problem is that Turquoise was once enslaved by one really nasty vampire named Lord Daryl, who murdered her parents and little brother, and kept her as his lapdog for a year before a vampire mercenary named Nathaniel helped her escape.

Ravyn and Turquoise soon take the task, and the reluctant Nathaniel sells them to the leader of Midnight. Except the leader isn't Jeshickah, it's a fledgling called Jaguar. Jaguar is strangely kind towards human beings, especially Turquoise and a teenage boy named Eric. Turquoise must confront her past, her fears and the questions about Jaguar's kindness before she can hope to deal with Daryl.

In many ways, this book is far better than the previous ones. Characterization is far superior: Turquoise has more depth than the execrable Jessica or the wannabe-tough-girl Sarah, though her past is too speedily covered. We hear about how horrifying her life under Daryl was, but we only get a few pages worth of flashbacks, most of which involve her getting backhanded. Jaguar is a better character than the defanged Aubrey or the wussy arty vampire Christopher, in that Atwater-Rhodes actually makes him both tough and vicious at times, but capable of kindness, and with a decided darker side that doesn't make him wussy at all. Ravyn is ridiculously two-dimensional; she doesn't seem to have any personality but that of a tough, leather-wearing, blood-licking girl who dislikes Turquoise. Nathaniel as the chic mercenary suave vampire is the only really outstanding character.

The romance is also more tolerable. Atwater-Rhodes shouldn't handle romances until she's had more experience with them; while the last two books revolved around the romantic tension between supposedly-tough human girls and uninteresting vampires, here it revolves around the lead character. The interest in Jaguar is a side subplot. However, Turquoise's adversary Daryl is pretty unimpressive, especially given his snap-hiss-growl attitude; Jeshickah was a far more convincing enemy, especially when one considers how many times we see Daryl getting kicked around.

One of the problems is that Atwater-Rhodes still tends sometimes toward melodramatic trappings; Ravyn's burgundy hair and "cranberry" eyes are one of those problems. The name "Midnight" is another; it's a silly name for something that is supposed to be that ominous. "Lord" constantly tacked before Daryl's name seems pretentious. Character names tend to be a bit hyperdramatic as well; while this is excusable among the vampires, I find it difficult to read consistently about modern characters called "Turquoise," "Onyx," "Frost," and "Ravyn." She also tends to hammer points over and over; some of the ruminations are repeated over and over, as are the constant reminders of how nasty Daryl is and what he did to Turquoise.

Midnight itself is badly-defined; we never get a really clear idea of what it's like, aside from that there are lots of rooms and that sometimes vampires are mean to the humans. I found it extremely amusing that there is an "exercise room" open to humans, free clothes and hygiene-related objects, and apparently good food; this seems less like a vampire citadel with human slaves than an S&M hotel.

The cover is also a problem, featuring a person of ambiguous gender who doesn't really resemble anyone in the book. And finally, any person who appreciates a good ending will be grinding their teeth during the last twenty pages of this novel. Atwater-Rhodes' focus seems to be either wandering or narrowing to a pinpoint; the climax is anticlimactic, the dialogue is dull, the action is duller, and there are about a hundred loose ends waving in the wind. Readers may hit the climax and say, "That's it? Where's the ending? Where's the CONCLUSION?"

I'm relieved to say that Atwater-Rhodes is improving in many areas, especially her weakest points. But to be a really good author, she needs to start polishing and working a little more carefully.

This book isn't as bad as the other slop she's thrown together. The only gripes I have are the dialogue, which seems to be one of her glaring flaws as an author. Even if they're crazy über vampires in kickin' black leather and spandex, no one in their right frame of mind will say half of the retarded things Amelia makes them say. For example: "There is a difference between keeping a well-caged rattlesnake on the shelf to display and letting it slither between your bedcovers." Um.. are you serious, Amelia? Jesus.

Another gripe is that nobody STABS anyone in this book--they all go planting knives into people. Count how many times the words "plant" and "knife/knives" are used and I think you'll be inclined to agree that Amelia's definitely reaching out for a dramatic flare. And it's shamefully obvious.

I'm not going to get into the book's plot since there's all these things talking about it, instead I'll review it--since that's what a review is. I didn't mind the new set of names Ameila graced us with in this novella (The only one I want to harp on is JESHICKAH because that's so ridiculous she should be smacked for getting away with it) and even Jaguar is tolerable. In fact I pretty much enjoyed everyone, Amelia did a nice job somehow on this one. One of the biggest problems I've heard mentioned is how so many parts of the plot, characters and story are taken from another book that Amelia admits to having read. So there you go. Even plaguerists can get published, kids!

The vampire hunter bit doesn't get old since this is a nice take of another perspective. Also throwing in the human slaves is a nice touch. I just wish she didn't garnish the whole prospect of slavery so much--I wasn't impressed or horrified by the whole thing, meanwhile Turquoise is choking back bile. Amelia just makes things so dramatic there's hardly anything tangible for us to hold onto. So humans were bred like cattle--okay. Woop dee doo. Hearing someone talk about it in Amelia's goth, gloom doom prose does nothing for me. She needs a lot of work there--or she should eliminate dialogue from her future books.

Taking all that into account this book is still worthy of three stars.. because despite all that I enjoyed it. The whole "human minds create a vampire's viciousness" is an interesting touch and I think she summed it up rather nicely, and while Turquoise didn't necessarily take out the vampire she was assigned to kill, she does tie up her own loose ends, which gives us a nice sense of closure for the poor girl. The fact that it ends without any clear cut definition about what happens to her is also a nice touch. I'm sure if one really wanted to, there's plenty of things about the book they could enjoy; you just have to get past Amelia's glaring flaws and cringeworthy dialogue first. Good luck.