Emma, seventeen, has epilepsy.
The erratic seizures are humiliating and have driven away friends and ruined some of her dreams. Even soccer, where she can let out some of her substantial frustration, is starting to be taken from her.
She’d do anything to not have epilepsy – until it saves her life.
When she wakes up in the hospital with a severe cut on her thigh that caused tremendous blood loss, she can’t remember anything at first. But then small pieces of the puzzle start to come together, until she begins to recall an attack by a man – a vampire, she realizes – named Wirtz. He was going to kill her. But, it seems, Emma’s sudden grand mal seizure somehow enabled her escape.
Then Emma’s starts to notice changes.
She gets an extreme sensitivity to light, with implausible night vision, and more strength and speed. But she’s not craving blood, and she has no problem going out in daylight. Could she be half a vampire? Is that even possible?
Emma has a bigger dilemma though. It’s not long before she gathers that Wirtz is after her. Her mother and little sister are in danger. Emma needs to figure out what she is and how to prepare for a fight that she can in no way predict…
Throat provides us bibliophiles with a different kind of character. Emma is unruly, impulsive and often angry – and she has a strength to her, a capable-ness that is sometimes unusual to this genre. Plus, the condition she suffers from – epilepsy – is not one I’ve read about often, so points for originality yet again.
When we take that creativity and toss in vampires and a bit of mystery we get a creepy, fascinating, unexpected thrill-ride of a read that can come across at times to be The Fugitive for the supernatural set.
Throat has a very cool, very unique vampire mythology that mixes well with a dash of sci-fi. The pace sometimes takes its time, but with engrossing revelations of details that kept me utterly glued. And we get just enough romance to satisfy our need for it (or my need for it), without getting schmaltzy or cliché.
Truly different. I was happily astonished. In fact, I think Throat may be a vampire book that boys might enjoy just as well as girls – and that doesn’t happen too often!
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