Review: The fertile imagination of Aiden James definitely knows what today's readers want to see in their stories.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 3, 2011
The night Txema (pronounced "Chema") Ybarra turned nineteen, her life changes forever. Until then, Txema's plans had been to finish graduating from the University of Tennessee and becoming a veterinarian. But as Txema finishes preparing to go out with her boyfriend, Peter Worley, to celebrate, a vampire appears with warning of evil creatures lurking just outside her dorm. The vampire, Garvan de Sang, is one of five emissaries who have crossed the Atlantic to meet and protect Txema. Of course, Txema does not fully believe it, but all too soon the truth is revealed. Students begin dying. But it is Txema the creatures are seeking.Upon Txema's neck is a birthmark resembling twin tears. It is a sign of an ancient royal bloodline which carries a gift that a breed of vampires needs to survive, and which allows them to govern the less-fortunate of their kind. Without Txema's bloodline, these vampires would lose control over their primal urges. Should that happen, the vampires would gorge themselves until the human race became extinct.One of the vampire emissaries, Chanson, is a female distantly related to Txema. Hundreds of years ago, Chanson had been in the same position in which Txema is now. Another vampire, Ralu Izcacus, considers himself to be the king of the lesser beings. (Think of menacing and deformed vampires and cruel human chupacabras which consider humans to be their playthings and/or chattel.) It is Ralu that has creatures hunting the campus for Txema. Ralu would enjoy seeing Txema's bloodline end.Thus begins a cat and mouse game between immortals that will eventually decide the fate of humanity.**** FOUR STARS! This story is written in the First Person with Txema as the main focus. The very first page has Txema explaining that she is writing down the last ten days of her life for possible future readers. Fortunately, this means that I see events through Txema's eyes. As Txema learns and understands what is happening, so do I. Unfortunately, this also means that whenever Txema becomes unconscious, I am unable to witness dramatic events unfolding or the clash of exciting battles. In my opinion, hearing about battles (and/or the outcomes) narrated after the fact is not nearly as satisfying.As with the previous titles I have read by this author, I found the author's writing style to be silky smooth and the main plot line to be extremely creative. The fertile imagination of Aiden James definitely knows what today's readers want to see in their stories. ****Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.