The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause

The Silver Kiss
by Annette Curtis Klause

Genre: Dark Fantasy / Paranormal Romance / Young Adult

Zoe is 16 and facing bereavement: her mother is dying of cancer, and her father seems to be excluding her from her mother's hospital bedside. No one dares speak to Zoe about the family tragedy, and she is isolated by grief, anger and fear. Then she meets the alluring, enigmatic Simon, who has an uncanny ability to recognize her feelings. After a series of nocturnal meetings, Zoe learns that Simon is a vampire kept alive by his thirst to avenge the death of his own mother three centuries ago. Drawn to him by an empathy charged with both longing and fear, Zoe agrees to participate in a dangerous scheme to trap Simon's mother's supernatural killer. The two emerge from their encounter able to mourn and acknowledge their losses.

Zoe is struggling and trying to cope with her mother's illness. Her father (consumed with his own grief) doesn't want Zoe disturbing or stressing out her mother in the hospital, so she's often alone at home falling deeper and deeper into an isolated depression/anger. Then she meets Simon one night in the park. He's the first person who relates to her dark & numbing feelings and together, throughout the book, they begin to share each others company. On the flip side, throughout Zoe's town, young women are being brutally murdered and Zoe begins to realize Simon's true intent of being there as well.

It's odd thinking this book is a good 20 years old, written back in the day (1990) before the 'vampire craze' took over. Yet, there were definitely some creepy/gory parts throughout The Silver Kiss and sadly some down right predictable ones. For example, I guessed the killer right from the beginning! It's a quick emotional read and you flip back and forth between the characters, but overall I felt the tale was weak. Nothing really stood out, the villain was under developed, it's got a sad climax, and when I finished . . . I was hoping for a better read overall.

Likes: It's a quick vampy read, if you don't have very high standards.

Dislikes: The whole story carries such a dark heavy tone of death, that it's hard to get past it.

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