The Allure of the Curse - Patrick Vaughn

Title: The Allure of the Curse
Author: Patrick Vaughn
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: 8/10
# pages: 244
Date read: February, 2009

Review: Warrenna was 16 before she discovered she was born a vampire. Not having acted upon it, she was still considered an "orphan" by others of her kind as she had not yet succumbed to the infection, but had retained as much of her humanity as physically possible. Living together with a group of other orphans, she helps the elders rid the world of "true" vampires, while offering a sanctuary for the ones infected who hadn't turned yet.

Part of helping orphans remain human is the cleansings offered by the goddess Zera, as well as the healings the human Thomas is somehow able to perform. Nobody knows quite why Thomas is able to save the orphans from their dreams, nor why his blood apparently tastes awful to vampires, but everybody assumes Zera probably has a finger in the pie - and when that's the case, it's better not to ask too many questions.

Unfortunately some questions have to be asked when a raid goes horribly wrong, leaving one orphan killed, another mortally wounded, and Thomas kidnapped. What do the vampires want from Thomas, and why is he different than other humans?

Well-written and catching, The Allure of the Curse is a fitting sequel to The Cure for the Curse and an entertaining alternative to the Twilight series. It has been interesting to note the number of novels with vampires-as-good-guys that have appeared over the last years, but Patrick Vaughn has found a niche that's suitably different from Stephenie Meyers' and offers a good reading option for those eagerly awaiting more from her hand.

Patrick Vaughn did leave some threads hanging as well as some questions unexplained, but since The Allure of the Curse is meant to be the second book in a series of 7, he can be forgiven for this as it is to be assumed that these threads/questions will be picked up in future books. The plot itself was sufficiently tied up that I didn't feel like I was left hanging.

The Allure of the Curse is aimed mostly at a YA audience, but can easily be enjoyed by older readers also.

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