Leah Clifford

This is quite a refreshing read from the usual teenager urban fantasy stories where the character is completely obnoxious and makes insanely stupid decision for no logical reason.

Set in a world where a small group of humans are born with a genetic mutation that allows them to heal wounds absurdly fast (including many kinds of life threatening injuries and even survive death), this small community of resurrectionists dedicate their lives towards charging hefty fees for bringing the recently deceased back to life. Their society is disperse with a middleman that handles the money and legitimacy of each gig along with a cleaning system that kills humans that harm their people in order to obtain the secret to their fountain of life for personal profit.

Allie knows all too well the bad aspects of the life she was born into. After having her parents murdered at the hands of a former client that couldn't pay the bills, she briefly lives with her aunt Sarah that is the middleman in charge of her working area and learns the management aspects of the profession. Tired of the perils of this life, she decided to move into a modest apartment and frequents homeless communities where she befriends two teenage guys: Brandon and Ploy.

When Brandon is brutally murdered for his blood, she turns to the mysterious but friendly Ploy that sometimes sleeps on her couch for his help without knowing he has a dark secret as well that haunts him incessantly during the novel.

Filled with believable and interesting characters, Allie is distrustful but yearns for love, Ploy is brave but at the same time self-loathing because he doesn't stand up to himself and the villain Jamison is a terrifying yet convincing psychopath that manipulates everyone around him for his ulterior goal. If there is one flaw of the novel, I am sort of confused as to where Jamison and Allie grew up. Allie comments her parents used to live in Ohio whereas it seems like Jamison grew up in the outskirts of Fissure's Peak. If you read the book, you'll agree with me that it's a bit confusing.

Otherwise, it's an exciting and refreshing thriller/dark fantasy read with tints of believable romance and interesting characters. Highly recommended!… (altro)