The Season of Risks

Yes, this novel is part of a vampire series - "ethical vampires" - but it's really quite different from the other Vampire series I have read, and I very much enjoyed this book.

These vampires live among humans - though they may or may not make themselves known. They mostly subsist on synthetic blood and food - oysters are an excellent nutritional source. They lives fairly normal daily lives, and don't explode in the sun (though they are highly susceptible to sunburn). They can also read people's thoughts and turn invisible, which is pretty cool.

Ariella is actually a hybrid - half vampire, half human - so she often feels like she doesn't fit in. In order to have a real relationship with Neil Cameron, the man she is in love with, she decides she wants to take the artificial aging drug Septimal, which will age her 7 years, taking her from 15 to 22. What happens after that is strange, confusing, confounding, and highly entertaining.

I really enjoyed this book. Author Susan Hubbard writes wonderful characters - we really like the ones we're supposed to like, and we really dislike the ones we ought to. She also writes believable "vampireness," without the sticky Southern sweetness of the Sookie Stackhouse books. I'm definitely going to go back to the beginning and read The Society of S, the first novel in the series.

The Season of Risks: An Ethical Vampire Novel