After a year of hunting, I finally caught up with Sarah.

The blurb on the back of this book does not do it justice, which basically makes it look like it’s all about a teenager in New York, chasing down ex-girlfriends, that could be infected with an STD.

Okay, an STD (read parasite) that turns you in to a vampire! But still… This still sounds like one of those well meaning books, packed full of educational & moral information, about why you shouldn’t even think of snogging until you’re at least 55 hand have celebrated your Silver Wedding Anniversary.

Okay, ’m being unfair. but the blurb really did nothing for me, I’d picked up the book a time or two, mainly because of Westerfeld’s name and reputation as an author I should read, but every time I thought, “nah” and moved on to the next book.

That was until, someone started tweeting about it and then published a favourable (I nearly went for the obvious pun-ladend word choice of ‘positive’ here instead – be thankful I resisted!) review a few days ago, I just had to pick up a copy from the library, and I’m very glad I did.

The book follows nineteen year old Cal, as he is on the tail of Sarah, the last of his girlfriends he has infected with the parasite (while not a full blown vampire he is a carrier), once he has caught her, he can go after his progenitor, Morgan, the girl he lost his virginity to and caught it from.

You see, Cal now works for the Night Watch, and it’s their job to keep New York safe from rabid vampires and stop the spread of the disease.

Only this is much, much bigger that just that, something even worse than an out-break of blood suckers is lurking beneath the New York streets, and secrets centuries old are about to come to the surface, and Cal is going to be right in the middle of it.

I really liked Cal as a character and his developing relationship (and cluelessness) with Lacy a trainee reporter he meets in his search for Morgan, and while this is Cal’s show in regards starring rolls, the rest of the supporting cast do an admirable job in keeping the plot moving and dialogue zippy and entertaining

We also get to learn more about parasites than I could ever hope to want to know. Each chapter is intermingled with sections where Cal explains about various parasites, and their particular foibles and reasons for existence. These sections are not just there to make your skin crawl – and they most certainly will do that! – but Cal is using them to illustrate the reasons for the existence of Vampires, and why they are the good guys.

All, in all an excellent read, your skin will crawl and your blood will race, and the next time your cat looks oddly at you, you may just shudder a little!

Most entertaining.

[rating:90/100]

Other Blog Reviews:

• Things Mean a Lot
• YA Fabulous
• Guys Lit Wire
• Bookshelves of Doom
• Mari Reads

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