Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter Book 1
by Nikki Jefford
I’d give this novel 3.5 bites out of 5. (There’s some blood left)
Like many people, I’ve always enjoyed a good vampire tale. That said, I’ve wanted to read this book ever since I saw the wonderful cover. The key to a good vampire story is, first of all, to try and not repeat one of the many, tired and over-used themes or plots that have been beaten to death by vampire popularity over the years. Most everything has already been done. Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter felt mostly fresh, and I liked that. In short, Aurora is a teenager that gets in a terrible car accident. Really, she should have died–and would have, had it not been for a government agency that saved her. They gave her vampire blood. There’s a catch, though. In order to save her life, Aurora’s mother had to sign it away. See, the government needs “hunters,” or “agents” and they find people that are virtually dead because of car accidents or other similiar scenarios, and make the guardian a deal that can’t be refused. They have nothing to lose, when they’ve already lost their loved one, right? The government has figured out how to use vampire blood to heal these otherwise dead victims. Why don’ t they turn into vampires as a result of the vampire blood? Well, the answer to that question would require a level of government clearnce that I don’t currently have. Suffice it to say that the new “agent” has to come in to the office every so often to take their medicine—a cure that keeps the vampire blood that saved their life from turning them fully into a vampire. So, in their current state, with the government’s help, they have semi-super human field agents that are tasked with finding and destroying the undead. As long as they come in for their check-up and get their dose, they don’t have to worry about becoming the very thing they are hunting and killing. That’s a semi-new twist on things. I could run with that. How do they fight the vampires, you might be wondering? This is where I was also a little intrigued, but perhaps a little disappointed on one level, too—they let themselves get bitten. If a real vampire bites a hunter that has the government’s formula running through their veins, they die. Kind of a strange way to empower your main character. “Go ahead, bite me!.” And there it is. Add some teenage angst (or a lot,) some language and some upper teen/adult themes every here and there, and you have Aurora Sky book 1. The author’s writing style was pretty good. I’d read her again, I think. The story line was solid, and fresh enough. I do have to say that I think some of what were intended to be plot twists were really easy to figure out, while there were a few that weren’t, and the twist at the end was pretty cool. Good hunting!
