Book Review: Drowning in the Dark

Drowning in the Dark (Samantha Carver Saga #1)

By: Allison Karras

Published By: You Come Too Publishing

E-book Only

Release Date: February 2011

Buy it at Amazon

Source: Provided by Author

Audience: Young Adult

Drowning in the Dark is a tiny morsel of paranormal deliciousness that fans of zombies, demons, angels, and mysteries should enjoy. This read was extremely short - about 69 PDF pages - and while I really enjoyed the read I wish it had been longer. This book could have easily earned five birdies from me if there had been more character and plot development. Allison Karras is a strong, inventive writer so I expect that as the series progresses there will be more development. So many intriguing elements were set up in this book that will make for good reading in the future.

Samantha Carver is a teen with an interesting curse. She survived a zombie attack as a child and now she can sense when an undead is about to crawl out of the grave and terrorize the town she lives in. While Sam appreciates the chance to save others she craves normality. She thinks she might just have found it when she moves to Freeport, Oregon to live with her uncle, aunt, and cousin, but her zombie hiatus doesn't last long before a classmate is killed and the dead begin to rise in Freeport.

I thought the twist on zombies in this book was interesting. Karras combines zombies with demons, which is something I have never read about before. The plot is faced paced due to the length of the novel, but it kept me guessing and my heart racing. I just wish that I had gotten a chance to really know Sam as a character. You get to see how she feels about her curse and you catch glimpses of her emotional side, but I don't feel like I really know her. I think this series could be something great if Sam becomes someone readers truly care about rather than someone they are just reading about in a book.

I will be reading the next book for sure - especially after the MAJOR cliffhanger this one ended on. I was so frustrated! I wanted to throw something when I read the last sentence. I can't wait to see what Karras is going to do in book #2.

One Last Gripe: I want to see more showing and less telling in the next book

My Favorite Thing About This Book: All the paranormal twists and turns

First Sentence: Keep moving.

Favorite Character: Sam

Least Favorite Character: Rachel, she bugged me for some reason

Summary:

There’s a demon walking the streets of Freeport. And only teenager Samantha Carver can stop it.

It’s hard to outrun your past. But that’s what Sam thought she could do. After moving to a sleepy town on the Oregon coast to live with relatives, she thought she was safe. She thought she could be someone different. She thought she could be a normal teenage girl.

However, the quiet coastal town of Freeport is no refuge. After a girl at the high school is brutally murdered, the police believe Samantha’s cousin and best friend, Terry, is responsible.

But Samantha knows what her friends, teachers, and the police don’t. The murderer isn’t human. Samantha has seen this before. Too many times. She has witnessed the dead rise from their graves and do unspeakable things. She carries the scars on her skin and the sorrow in her soul to prove it.

The evil that she thought she had left behind in the rotting graveyards of her past is still stalking her.

Will Samantha be able to save Terry, Freeport, and herself from the malevolent power that threatens to rip her world apart? Or will she succumb under a surging tide of evil and drown in the growing darkness that surrounds her?

In the tradition of Amanda Hocking and Charlaine Harris comes a paranormal romantic thriller with more chills than a cold and windblown night on the Oregon coast.