Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fresh Blood, 5 Oct 2006
When Dr Carrie Ames is attacked by a John Doe patient in the morgue of the hospital she works in, she knows her life has changed. Her boss is questioning her abilities as a doctor and she's questioning her own commitment to the career she's worked so hard for. What she doesn't realise is exactly how irrevocable this change is. Because the man who attacked Carrie is a vampire - and now she's one too. Tied to her lethal sire by their shared blood and dependent on the good will his greatest enemy for her survival, Carrie must adapt quickly to her new undead existence or she could end up dying all over again...
So where does a girl go for good vampire fiction since "The Historian" proved such a let-down? Laurell K Hamilton is out of the question, and as fond as I am of Sookie Stackhouse, she's more fluffy than Buffy. So thank God that Jennifer Armintrout wrote "The Turning." From the surprising violence of its opening right through to the bloody climax, this is a book that constantly subverted my expectations. Every time I thought I'd figured out the three central characters, they proved I knew nothing about them at all. Every time I thought I was approaching a lull in the action, I was thrown back into another raw, emotional confrontation.
Carrie's stubborn, compassionate nature is both balanced and compromised by her relationships with her sire, the ruthless, needy Cyrus, and her potential killer Nathan, a severe, secretive vampire dedicated to the extermination of his own kind. Both men exact a pull on her for different reasons. Cyrus is a compelling character, forever altering your opinion of him through his words and actions. Nathan initially appears reserved and cold - especially compared to the charismatic, unpredictable Cyrus - but as he and Carrie grow closer it becomes clear that his cold facade is hiding a heartbreaking past.
"The Turning" kept me guessing right up until the final page, and I'm now impatiently awaiting the next two books in the series, due for release next year. Now if she can just come up with something featuring werewolves, I'll be set...
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting new vampire series with a great writing style, 19 Jan 2007
The subtitle on the front cover of this book says "Avoid sunlight. Drink blood. Hate yourself. Forever. Welcome to immortality." And all of this happens to poor old Dr Carrie Ames, doctor in the ER, when she has a rather unexpected interaction with a dead body in the morgue. A dead body who doesn't seem quite as dead as she thought. The first couple of chapters are brilliantly written in a chatty, modern style rather reminiscent of Janet Evanovich (although with rather more serious subject matter!)
So Carrie becomes a vampire after her attack by one. Not having a hand book on how to go along as a vampire she gets in contact with "Ziggy" through the internet, not realising she has actually made contact with a vampire hunter. Ziggy works with Nathan, a vampire who works to rid the world of all new vampires, and Nathan is all set to finish off Carrie if she doesn't agree to join the society but she gets a fortnight to choose. And in that fortnight she meets her vampire sire again and discovers the call that his blood in her holds.
On one level this is a basic "torn between two choices" book. Carrie is sired by Cyrus who is an evil and perverted vampire; Nathan is a good vampire but who has terrible memories from his past and who doesn't really seem to commit much to Carrie. Most of the book is Carrie's tug-of-love between her Sire and the man who wants to help her but ultimately may be forced to kill her. It's an interesting premise but Cyrus is portrayed as so evil I just can't work out why Carrie ever even considered hanging out with him - it's a pretty gory book with lots of people dying rather unpleasantly so don't read it if you're faint-of-heart.
There are some other characters involved including an evil witch, an über-evil master vampire and the aforementioned Ziggy who is like a foster son to Nathan and becomes so to Carrie. I enjoyed reading the book although I found Cyrus's machinations rather too distasteful, and the worldview Jennifer Armintrout has created was interesting, but I felt that after the strong beginning the book rather bogged itself down in Carrie's attempts to choose between the two men. Come on Carrie, it was a no-brainer from the start! Still I will be interested to see what else this young writer produces in this series and I certainly enjoyed her writing style.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Realistic Vampire Tale, 1 Jun 2007
The Turning tells the story of Dr. Carrie Ames who is turned into a vampire following a vicious attack in the hospital morgue. As a vampire she now has the choice of following her evil vampiric sire Cyrus, or joining the Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement. Nathan A VVEM sanctioned executioner attempts to help her make a decision regarding her new life. But she only has a short time before the VVEM will add her to their hitlist.
This is perhaps one of the more realistic takes on vampirism I have read. And whilst it's probably not for those readers who prefer a more romantic story I found it a refreshing change to some of the defanged heroes around at the moment. From the horrific scene where Carrie is attacked, to the brutality she witnesses at Cyrus's mansion. It's a good job there are some lighter moments to balance the darkness. Indeed for a while we have an endearing dysfunctional vampire family.
The problem I think Jennifer Armintrout has is convincing the reader that Carrie is equally drawn to both Cyrus and Nathan. It's easy to accept she is attracted to Nathan - who wouldn't be. Cyrus is more problematic - given all that he is and does - and I don't think JA quite pulls it off. That magnetism almost has to be experienced rather than read about, and I didn't get far enough into Carrie's head to share it with her. In the end I just had to accept that the instinctive,animalistic pull towards Cyrus enhanced by the blood tie is as compelling as the pull towards Nathan.
As someone who is plunged into a world they don't understand Carrie inevitably makes mistakes - some with higher consequences than others. She is an independent heroine, determined to see shades of grey in a world where she is told there is only black and white. I'm looking forward to finding out what she does next.
Possession (Book 2) is available now.
Ashes to Ashes (Book 3) is released August 2007
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