In the Dead of Night Terrifying Things Happen...

Expected Publication: July 8th, 2012
Dead of Night (The Youngbloods # 2)
By: Lynn Viehl
Flux Books
ISBN-13:  9780738726465

True love . . . and an undying obsession
Catlyn Youngblood has a secret life. Despite being a natural-born vampire hunter like her two older brothers, Cat has fallen for Jesse--an ageless boy from a centuries-old vampire clan.
Cat's job cataloguing rare, mystical texts at a bookstore allows her to meet with Jesse alone every evening. But when girls who look disturbingly similar to Cat start disappearing from town, Cat and Jesse discover frightening clues to their whereabouts within the book collection. Together, they must stop a crazed man from realizing his dark scheme-- one that would claim Cat's life.

Review

   Catlyn Youngblood only recently moved to Lost Lake with her brothers, Trick and Gray, but the last few months have been eventful.  Cat found out that she is descended from Van Helsing and has special powers that allow her to hunt vampires - including some vampire blood in her family tree.  But that's the last thing she wants to do after falling in love with Jesse Raven, a mysterious teenage boy who along with his parents, doesn't age.  He is almost a vampire but not quite.  After Trick tries to make her forget the last few months and Jesse altogether with his mind control abilities, Cat plays along so she'll be free from suspicion and able to see Jesse in secret again.  To help this idea along, Cat gets a holday job cataloguing a rare, occult book collection of the town's recently deceased recluse.  But then girls begin disappearing from town under mysterious circumstances - girls who look almost exactly like Cat.  Is she going to be next?  What does the mysterious kidnapper hope to gain and how sinister can circumstances get before someone is almost lost forever?  This book was a good follow-up to the first of the series.  I enjoy the idea of Van Helsing's descendants and their supernatural powers.  Cat is just an average girl with a good family life and awesome brothers (even if it is sans parents) and this highly appeals to me.  I loved the subplot with the out of control horse, Rika, but even I (totally horse uneducated) could get what her problem was.  It took them way too long to figure that one out.  The whole 'deranged and on a quest for immortality' thing wasn't exactly new, but it was still entertaining.  Cat gets some more revelations about her powers and family history in this book.  My main complaint would be the lackluster romance between Cat and Jesse.  They verge on Edward/Bella, with the main difference being I like Cat and Jesses as individuals - they're just not that great together.  Their relationship is pretty boring and vanilla, because those are the traits they bring out in each other.  The rating for this book probably would have been a star lower, if not for Viehl's jaw-dropping, wall-punching cliffhanger.  It's something that was present at the end of the first book too.  I can't wait to see where it leads.  I would recommend this to readers who were intrigued by the first book.  Don't bypass it, or else you probably won't be sucked in at all to the plot and overall character shenanigans. 

VERDICT:  4/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book's expected publication date is July 8th, 2012.*