The Prey - Andrew Fukuda

★★★★★

Read : March 2014

"For Gene and the remaining humans - or hepers - death is just a heartbeat away. On the run and hunted by society, they must find a way to survive in The Vast...and avoid the hungry predators tracking them in the dark. But they're not the only things following Gene. He's haunted by the girl he left behind and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.

When they discover a refuge of exiled humans living high in the mountains, Gene and his friends think they're finally safe. Led by a group of intensely secretive elders, the civilisation begins to raise more questions than answers. A strict code of behaviour is the rule, harsh punishments are meted out, young men are nowhere to be found - and Gene begins to wonder if the world they've entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As life at the refuge grows more perilous, he and Sissy only grow closer. In an increasingly violent world, all they have is each other...if they can only stay alive."

Gene, Sissy and a small group of friends have escaped from the compound they had been trapped within and set out on their own into 'The Vast.' But they didn't leave alone and their enemies are becoming much smarter and much stronger with each day that passes. Gene and his friends reach the safety of a small village, full of smiles, song and plentiful food...but have they really reached the safe haven they believe it to be..?

They Prey is the second instalment in a series by Fukuda and sequel to 'The Hunt.' Those that have read and enjoyed the first book will fall head-first into this one and find themselves submerged in Gene's terrifying world again. For those that haven't, quite a lot is explained by Fukuda of previous events, but the terminology is something you will pick up along the way. Taking into consideration that this is a part of a series, I think the book stands very well on it's own but maybe a bit more of a recap of the previous book would be handy for those that haven't had the chance to read 'The Hunt' or read it sometime ago.

The Prey took me a couple of chapters to get into but once I'd fallen into the story and the characters it was impossible to pull myself out again, it gripped me through the rest of the pages until the very last word. Fukuda's character's are relateable and believable and I shared my terror with them throughout the chapters.

The last vampire novel I read, Uprising by Scott G Mariani, depicted vampires as a superior, sexy and toughened lot. This novel came from an entirely different angle, that of a group of petrified teenagers running for their lives from these hideous monsters who, throughout the majority of the book, don't appear in the traditional image of a vampire that we envisage in the slightest...which is just brilliant. I found myself frequently forgetting that they were vampires of human appearance as Fukuda described his grotesque, savage, blood-crazed but scarily intelligent beasts. I enjoyed it, it was original..I hadn't read anything with vampires such as this before.

The further you got into the book the more of a gripping, tense read it became. It was a page-turning horror that had me completely spellbound and unable to put it down; each page was filled with fear, survival and a distinct 'end of the world' feeling.

I would most definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys the paranormal, young adult and/or horror genres. It was a fantastic read and I am greatly looking forward to reading Fukuda's next instalment of his series, The Trap.

Uprising - Scott G Mariani

★★★

Read : March 2014

"For centuries, vampires walked the Earth undetected, feasting on humans in keeping with their ancient traditions, but now 21st Century technology has left them open to detection...
To establish order, the Vampire Federation is born, policed by special agents like vampire Alexandra Bishop, authorised to hunt down those who violate the new code. But rebel vampire Gabriel Stone doesn't play by the rules and declares war against the Federation, throwing Alex and her team into turmoil.
Oblivious to the chaos in the vampire world, human Detective Inspector Joel Solomon is drawn into an unlikely alliance with Alex when he investigates a series of gruesome corpses drained of their blood. Together they are plunged into a war of good versus evil, taking them from the streets of London to the mountains of Transylvania in a battle that threatens to destroy them all..."

Within Uprising we are allowed to enter the very exclusive and equally secretive world of the vampires. Evolving through the years and eventually establishing the Vampire Federation, they have learnt to live among the humans and to avoid detection at all costs. We follow Alex(andra), a hard-hitting, no-nonsense vampire Special Agent who works for the Federation and hunts down those that violate its rules and regulations. But not all of the vampire population agree with the Federation's new regime and the traditionalist vampires begin to show their revulsion. Finding an unlikely ally in human DI Joel, Alex and the Federation are forced into a battle of the new versus the traditional.

The first thing I noticed while reading Uprising was it's setting(s) within the UK. It's one of the very few fantasy/supernatural novel's that I've come across that have been set within my own Country. I did find a couple of the other locations a little obvious and cliche but it generally worked within the genre and the book.

At first, I found it quite hard to get into the book. The first half of the novel became a bit of an uphill struggle (maybe because it's not one of my favourite genres?) and it did take me quite a while to get through. Once I hit the 2nd half of the book however, that all changed. The story picked up a lot of pace and became quite gripping. It boasted a huge, action-packed ending which finished the book off well whilst leaving it open enough for a possible sequel.

I thought the characters within Mariani's novel were reasonably well rounded and relateable, I could understand the three main character's points of view and why they were taking the actions that they did. At times, I did find the book became a little cliche, especially some of the settings, but overall it didn't become too obvious and yet another rewrite of the traditional vampires that appear in novels such as Dracula.

I liked that Mariani approached the story from three very different angles and found it interesting how he told his tale through his three main characters, each holding a differing view of the vampire race and their place within the world in the 21st Century. Alex(andra), working for the Federation, represented the 'new age' of the vampire where all attempts are taken to blend in and walk among the humans; feeding on human blood only when essential and using state-of-the-art drugs so those you chose as your victims aren't infected and have no memory of anything having happening to them. Olivier represented the traditional vampires who were didn't want to conform to the Federation's laws and felt it was their right to act as they always had and as the creatures that they are; feasting on humans and their lifeblood and shunning all the rules and drugs developed by those they felt were diminishing their race. Joel came from the viewpoint of the humans, living in fear of these creatures that were evil to the core, preyed on the human race and needed to be extinguished before they could continue to do so.

Overall, it isn't a genre I find myself particularly drawn towards, and at points during the novel I did find things became a little cliche, but the story and characters were put together pretty well and I found myself enjoying it more than I had thought I would. I would recommend it to those who like reading fantasy/supernatural.

Malicious - James Raven

★★

Read : March 2014

"He calls himself the Slave Master. He spies on women through their computer webcams. Then he blackmails those who unknowingly reveal their secrets to him. His last victim was brutally murdered. Now he's targeting the cop in charge of the investigation. To him she's the perfect prey - because she has secrets of her own.


He hacks into women's computers and laptops, has a snoop around and then uses their own webcam against them to watch and record the things they do in the privacy of their own homes. Some of his 'slaves' he just watches, but when he finds the 'right' woman he blackmails her to do as he wishes using the embarrassing evidence he's gathered. He thinks he has found the perfect 'slave' in Robyn Tate, the Officer currently in charge of investigating the circumstances behind his previous victims brutal murder. She is in a position of authority with a lot to loose and a lot of secrets she doesn't want revealed. But has he met his match this time?

'Malicious' was an okay, reasonably easy read but it didn't jump out and scare me as I had expected it to. It unnerved me slightly but, for me, the pages didn't quite pack the punch that they could have. I wasn't overly keen on the writing style but I found the subject matter interesting and the story moved along well. I did feel, however, that the plot of the book was laid out far too quickly...it felt a little 'obvious.' Within the first 10 pages Raven revealed a lot of the plot and I could see how the majority of the book would pan out, and it did. Whilst saying that, the identity of the hacker aka the Slave Master was hidden reasonably well throughout the story and the police investigation held it's own mysteries.

I didn't find the main characters within Raven's novel very believable, which became an issue for me as I made my way through the chapters. Robyn was rather unlikeable at times, which isn't a problem in itself, but she also didn't come across as a rounded and relateable character and although I felt for her and her predicament I didn't connect with her character well enough to care too much about what happened to her throughout the story.

Overall, Malicious was an okay read; the story rolled along well and read easily. The subject was interesting and not like anything I had read before but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

Disclaimer: A copy of this book was kindly sent to me via Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions on the book are my own.