Hooked: A True Faerie Tale

PARANORMAL:  Eve Darlene wouldn't call her life a good one - she lives in a run-down apartment with an alcoholic mother, no father and no friends.  Her days are spent dodging the 'mean girls' at school, and her nights reading "Peter and Wendy" to her grandmother, hospitalized with dementia.  When the cute new guy at school seems to have eyes only for her, the violence at school gets worse and the new neighbor in a previously abandoned apartment is her only ally.   She becomes a person of interest in a gruesome murder and doesn't know who to trust.  Who is more dangerous, the enigmatic Jacob or the charismatic Rocky?

Forget everything you thought you knew about Peter Pan - fans of vampires, dark fairy tales and urban fantasy rejoice!  "Hooked" will do exactly that to the reader from the very first page.  Michaelbrent Collings has penned a masterful take on a classic story - mixing it up with vampires and teenage protagonists.  His prose is brilliant, his writing is visceral and violent, dark and enthralling.  His characterization of Eve is so strong that it will grab the reader by the throat and hold them there until the very last page.  Jacob and Rocky are well-drawn and compelling; and once it is clear who they really are the book becomes even more exciting.

A couple of minor quibbles with the novel (a couple of issues with clarity) are only enough to bring down the rating 1/2 star.   Collings' novel is truly excellent, and as he knits the plot threads together near the end the reader will be clamoring for more!  

Tammy Grant