AFTERLIGHT

Author: Elle Jasper ISBN: 9780451231673 11/2010 PARANORMAL Publisher: SIGNET ECLIPSE

Blood is thicker than ink. There is a reason we fear the night… As Savannah's most unconventional tattoo artist, Riley Poe is quite familiar with the local underground scene. She lives and works on the edge of it every day. Now, she's about to step over the edge. When her younger brother is taken by a sinister cult led by centuries-old vampires, Riley discovers a world of shadows and blood--and those who exist there. Her ally is the hot-tempered vampire Eli Dupre, who is attracted both to Riley's beauty as well as her one-of-a-kind blood type. A blood type he is not alone in craving. To save her brother from certain un-death, Riley will face dangers she's never dreamed of, ruthless bloodthirsty enemies, and an evil of endless hunger that wants to devour all in its vile grasp.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

The first chapter of AFTERLIGHT, or I guess the preface, had me intrigued.  Lots of stuff to explore in that short section, and lots of stuff to uncover and find out about.  Eagerly I began the first part, and at first, I wasn't let down.

Riley is a bona fide HBIC (Head B**ch in Charge), and she's proud of it.  She's a legendary tattoo artist; treasure to her community; adoring older sister; and she dragged herself up out of a very bad life, thanks to Preacher man.  In between her brother becoming Mr. Hyde Riley reminds us, almost every two pages, how bad a life she scraped herself up out of. 

She's worried about Seth because she knows the kind of crap that goes down in the shady parts of Savannah.  She's been there, done that, and doesn't want that for him.  Truly, I get it.  I understand she redeemed herself through hard work and will power to give Seth a good life.  It's admirable!  I just wish she wouldn't tell us every single time the thought crosses her mind that her brother may be mixed up in bad stuff.

On the one hand, I can see that Jasper is trying to set up back story for later on so that we see that Riley has credentials to back up her claims and orders, but it became too much.  By the time that knowledge came in handy, I was so sick of hearing about her BAMF (Bada$$ Mo-fo) days, that I really wanted something to happen.  Anything at all.

Jasper also was overly fond of giving us 'This is Riley's normal life' in the beginning.  It stretched for too long of a time (about a fifth of the book overall), and then suddenly, we're at the actual tension of the book.  Vague dark things are implied, as well as hazy threatening things, but it all takes a step back for Riley's wonderful awesome life she's made for herself.

Putting aside Riley the Hero to Us All, I was fascinated by how Jasper wove Gullah lore and magic into the vampire mythos.  I've never been to Savannah, and the only time I've heard the word 'Gullah' was in relation to the old kid's show 'Gullah Gullah Island' (so I at least had some idea of what the accent Jasper was approximating was).  Fascinating stuff!  Preacher and Estelle were by far two of the more interesting characters in the book. 

I liked Eli well enough.  I kind of felt bad for him, because Riley teased him (incessantly) despite everyone of their mothers telling her it was a bad idea.  Heck, he told her it was a bad idea, at least twice, and she sulked about being rejected.  For someone with a survivalist outlook on life, she seemed more than happy to recklessly flirt with any danger she could walk, talk, or wave a hand at.

The bottom line is that once I got over how awesome Riley (repeatedly told us she was) sounded, I kept reading for the other characters.  Even the bad guys, Valerian and Victorian, interested me more by the end, especially Victorian, who seemed slightly more conflicted than his brother.  The short snippet of AFTERDARK, the sequel to this, didn't fill me with a lot of hope, however, so we'll see how that goes.

Alexandra Cenni