by Jackson Pearce
ages: 13+
First sentence: “Strangers never walk down this road, the sisters thought in unison as the man trudged toward them”
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I’ve been telling people that this book is Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but with werewolves. There’s kick-butt action: Scarlett and her sister, Rosie, after a devastating attack on their family which killed their grandmother and left Scarlett, physically scarred, have become Hunters. They know what the wolves, the Fenris, look for and how they attack, and they’ve made it their personal mission to keep their small Georgia town safe. There’s a bit of romance: Scarlett’s old friend Silas comes back into town, and even though he’s five years older than 16-year-old Rosie, there’s an attraction there, especially with Rosie, that she can’t deny. The problem is, however, that Rosie owes her sister her life. Can she really “throw” it away on a romance, when there are Fenris out there? There’s an interesting twist on werewolf lore: some of it you’ll have to discover for yourself, since it’s part of the plot. But, Pearce takes the idea of a wolf prowling and attaches it to a woman’s greatest fear: sexual predators. The Fenris only attack women, usually pretty and young, always late at night, and generally ones who are alone. It’s enough to make anyone question the monsters that lurk in the dark.

On top of it all (as if that weren’t enough), Scarlett and Rose have an interesting dynamic as sisters, and as characters. Pearce takes the sister relationship and ramps it up a notch: they love each other, they’re of one heart, they’re all they have, but Pearce explores the dynamic of differences, which makes the characters develop in unique and interesting ways. It also helps that the sisters alternate narratives, so, as a reader, we get a peek into both sister’s minds and hearts. It made the book that much more interesting.

And, really: what more can you ask for in a book?

Nothing, I tell you.