Move Over 'Twilight'...

Staff Writer

Courtesy of TruBloodline Book Club

   For those of you who love the sudden vampire wave that recently took over fiction lovers, the "House of Night Series: Marked," will quench your thirst.

   "Marked" starts out with no hesitation. Zoey Redbird stands next to the dead guy staring at her. Oh, vampires are no secret and certain teens get ‘marked’ during their younger years. No one can miss a vampire in this town, due to the huge crescent moon imprinted into their foreheads. Now, House of Night comes in, which is a boarding school for ‘fledgling’ and help them make it through their change into immortality.

   Zoey’s change leads her to the House of Night in Oklahoma. P.C. Cast and daughter Kristen Cast, authors of this novel, throw in strong amounts of girl power into this book making it refreshing and mesmerizing compared to the "knight in shining armor" books we see a lot of these days.

   The Cast’s girls bring a whole other universe of religious ways to vampires. Another positive note that the girls bring -- move over damsel in distress and drooling over ‘the one’ -- Zoey kick butts and doesn’t drool over guys ... well not too much.

   She faces obstacles that most teenagers go through (sort of.) The elite Dark Daughters, who everyone runs away from and can we say ‘hag from hell?” Zoey realizes Nyx, their goddess, gives her the ability to stand up to them.

   Zoey goes through her family and friends ignoring her and acting like she is a leper. But, Nyx’s intentions have a lot to offer Zoey. Her crescent moon begins to fill in, which never happens to newly-formed vampires.

   Zoey gets a lot thrown at her, with being newly formed. Her obstacles grow and grow and she finds herself having to use magic to stop the madness that starts to form around her.

   Zoey makes wonderful friends along the way including her, very country friend Stevie Rae. The Cast’s give the readers a great view of Zoey. A view a lot of readers do not see with our recent book collections. Her power, loyalty and spunk give the audience a great read. This vampire novel rules over most immortal books roaming the shelves these days, with a whole new twist on immortality and a girl that can kick butt.

   The first installment ‘Marked,’ released in 2007, spent weeks on the New York Times Best Seller’s list. The first six books are available in stores now. ‘Marked,” “Betrayed,” “Chosen,” “Untamed,” “Hunted,” “Tempted” and “Burned.” The new addition “Awakened” will be ready in early 2011.

   I recommend this book to any fiction lover. It will leave you thirsty for more.

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