Three from BlackWyrm

Vine: An Urban Legend
Michael Williams
BlackWyrm, $11.95
www.blackwyrm.com
ISBN: 9781613181256

Stephen Thorne teaches English and drama at North High School in Louisville, a far cry from the dreams Muriel had for him before the shootings at Kent killed his fantasies. He directs the senior play and an amateur summer theater. The production he leads this season is the Greek tragedy The Bacchae by Euripides

The crew and cast consist of eccentric individuals, making it difficult to create a cohesive production. However, Thorne’s efforts are well received by arcane forces who with his abetting them want to turn the tragedy on the stage into a real life tragedy in the theater and beyond.

Vine: An Urban Legend is a fascinating whimsical look at how individuals perceive their lives especially when mortality hits the gut. The cast whether they are Thorne, muses and other ancient ilk or townsfolk are fully developed with each major player containing critical flaws. At times difficult to read as the storyline shifts rather quickly, but worth the effort as fans will relish this twentieth century paranormal update of The Bacchae. Harriet Klausner

Lust For Life
Jeri Smith-Ready
Pocket, $7.99
ISBN: 9781439163504

Con artist Ciara Griffin had to choose adhering to her parents’ grifter advice of keep moving or staying in one place permanently buried in a cemetery as she was dying. Thus the manager of radio station WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock ’n’ Roll, chooses life of a sort when she voluntarily becomes converted into a vampire.

Concerned for her safety, Ciara’s vampire fiancé Shane McAllister vows to protect her ever since Jim the vampiric DJ attacked her. Though Jim is incarcerated his loyal horde targets Ciara and anyone close to her for sun-bathing eradication.

The latest Ciara Griffin vampire thriller (see Bring on the Night, Bad to the Bone and Wicked Game) is an exciting tale as fanatic frenzied fans (of Jim) literally want the heroine’s blood; while her guitar playing cross bow trainee fiancé risks his undead-ness to keep her safe. Fast-paced, readers will en joy this entry wondering whether the wedding dress will be virginal white, bloody red or grieving black. Harriet Klausner

The Legend of Gwerinatha: Chaos' Corner
Brad Parnell
BlackWyrm, $11.95
www.blackwyrm.com
ISBN: 9781613181119

Teenage slacker Robert has returned from his harrowing adventures in Gwerinatha where he and Louie the wolf rescued Branwen (see Branwen’s Garden). His best friend Cameron Gray, who was with him when Robert vanished, decides to enter Gwerinatha, but only for a short while as he wants to be back in time for lunch.

However, Cameron, to his chagrin, learns that entering was easy, but leaving impossible. With no fast food available, Cameron must adapt to the strange Land of Gwerinatha if he is to survive. Over the next few years Cameron becomes an adept hunter. However, Cameron soon realizes he is part of an Originator ethnic cleansing plot to rid the Unfinished Lands of Gwerinatha of the unwanted humans like Seren.

The second Legend of Gwerinatha is a fabulous twisting middle school coming of age fantasy starring a slacker who has the grow up fast to survive only to find himself caught in the crosshairs of a diabolical genocidal scheme. Action-packed yet character driven by Cameron, Seren and others, fans will relish Chaos' Corner as the protagonist feels like Alice entering an eerie “Looking Glass” version of the Eagle’s “Hotel California”. Harriet Klausner