Vesper by Jeff Sampson

Friday, February 25, 2011

Vesper by Jeff Sampson

Publisher: Balzar + Bray/ HarperCollins
Publication Date: January 25, 2011
Pages: 304
Source: library
Buy It: Amazon / Borders / Barnes & Noble
Emily Webb is a geek. And she’s happy that way. Content hiding under hoodies and curling up to watch old horror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for midnight parties. And she’s definitely not the kind of girl who starts fights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that . . . the same night one of her classmates—also named Emily—is found mysteriously murdered.

The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could before: Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely— something not human?

As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?  --Goodreads
After the mysterious death of Emily Cooke, Emily Webb is not herself.  She's fine during the day, but when darkness falls, things start getting hairy.  Emily starts going out on Friday nights to parties and clubs, when instead she used to stay home and read.  Then she begins transforming into something she's only heard from her books.  Emily needs to find "the one" or she just might go crazy.  There's a killer on the loose and creepy shadowmen are plaguing her every move.  They call her a Vesper, but what she really might be is a Deviant.

I enjoyed this book.  Jeff Sampson has this novel very-much thought out.  What I was expecting from the novel was some geek named Emily changes into cool Emily at night.  End of story.  Basically that's what happened, but there was so much more than that.  And I'm not about to give it away. 

There was a paranormal twist to the novel that I was never expecting.  This novel turned out to be very-well written, full of suspense, and just my kind of book. 

The beginning was a bit slow, I admit, but after she changed for the first few times, things started getting faster.  The ending was fantastic, but abrupt, like Sampson got bored of his own story and decided just to end it.  I understand, however, why Sampson ended it the way he did.  Doesn't everyone love cliffhangers?  Now, I'm looking forward to the sequel more than ever.

First Sentence:
  "I was halfway out of my bedroom window when my cell rang."
-Vesper by Jeff Sampson, p. 1
Rating:

Cover: 4
Characters: 5
Writing Style: 4
Plot: 4
Ending: 4
Overall: 4



Mild Violence
Nudity

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