Rachel Vincent

I just finished reading an ARC of Jeri Smith-Ready's Wicked Game, which I loved soooo much. I'm in awe. Jeri makes it look easy, and trust me, writing is not easy.

I was hooked into Wicked Game from the first page, and as I read, I became more and more amazed at her ability to draw me in with a book full of elements I would have sworn before that I wouldn't like. Her main character, Ciara (pronounced Keer-ah, according to the narrator) doesn't fight. She's human and has no special powers or abilities, except those skills she learned in her former life as a con-artist.

And the male lead? He's a vampire, but not the usual most-powerful-in-the-group vamp. In fact, he's the youngest and least powerful vampire among his friends. Yet in spite of the obvious lack of serious skills/powers that usually draw me to a novel, I loved reading about Ciara and Shane. I didn't want to let them go. They're both smart and determined, and each has his/her own brand of integrity.

In fact, there isn't a single character in the entire novel who's either all-good or all-bad. Wicked Game contains the single best example I can think of (at the moment) of flawed characters. They're all morally ambiguous, but even the bad guys have understandable motivations. Sympathize-able motivations.

Plus, the novel is very smart. Impressive but easy-to-follow knowledge of music and the radio industry. Fast, witty dialogue. Clever plotting. And in spite of the dark themes (mental illness, criminal pasts, revenge) and occasionally gory violence, I literally laughed out loud countless times and actually read several passages to #1. Who also laughed.

Let's just put it this way: I'll never look at my spice cabinet the same way again. ;-)

Wanna know what I'm talking about? Click here to pre-order the book.

(And this isn't even my official promo post for Wicked Game. For that, check back on Monday...