My Take On Nightlife by Rob Thurman

In New York, there's a troll under the Brooklyn Bridge, a boggle in Central Park, and a beautiful vampire in a penthouse on the Upper East Side. Of course, most humans are oblivious to this, but Cal Leandros is only half-human. His father's dark lineage is the stuff of nightmares-and he and his entire otherworldly race are after Cal.

He and his half-brother Niko have managed to stay a step ahead for three years, but now Cal's dad has found them again. And Cal is about to learn why they want him, why they've always wanted him...

Although it could be classified as yet another romp into to an alternate, monster filled New York City, I would caution you not to write this one off. Nightlife was amazing.
Cal is a sincere and shockingly chaste individual with a bad streak a mile wide. His main redeaming quality; his half-brother. Cal justifies his being a generally good person on living up to brother's expectations of him. Niko has always looked out for Cal and has never seen the monster in him that Cal can't escape. Niko is there for Cal 100%; from changeing his diapers as a baby to having his back in the frequent fights they find themselves in as adults, and this fact is driven home throughout the book with the development of the strongest brotherly reationship I've ever read. To be quite cliche, it's beautiful.
But it's not all man-hugs and touching moments! Cal's papa is out to get him, and the brothers don't know why; all they know is that they're not gonna sit around long enough to find out. They've been on the run from the Grendels1 for four years now, and they've finally found a place where they feel somewhat at home. They're not quick to trust those around them; especially not with the secret of Cal's heritage, but the cast isn't limited to the boys alone. Other characters include a lecherous immortal, a young psychic, and a gold digging vampire.
The narration was fantastic. The story is told by Cal, and his voice was remarkable. He was blunt and had a peculiar way with words. It was remeniscent of Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye, only he swore great deal more. Like, a very, very great deal more. I'd compare this whole book to a mash up of Catcher, The Mortal Instruments, Strange Angels, and the first couple seasons of the TV show Supernatural. That's not to say it isn't original. The monsters were great and scary and totally skin-crawly. I especially loved Thurman's troll, Abbigor. He lives under the Brooklyn Bridge, and he isn't at all like the guy who harrased the three Billy Goats Gruff. He was... abhorrent. You simply have to read about him to believe it2.
This book was action packed with an had an excellent cast, and Cal and Niko were heavily armed and endearing leads.

I give Nightlife...

...Five zombies!

I have a new series to add to my list of favorites! For a in depth content rating of this and other books, visit Rating Reads.

Happy Reading,

Zombie Girrrl

footnotes__________________________________________________________

1  The brothers named the Cal's paternal family "Grendels" after the monster from Beowulf.

2  I'll tell you one thing about ol' Abby, though. The word "spaghetti" was used in the description. *shudder* Luckily, spaghetti wasn't on the menu that week.

**Disclaimer: I am not receiving compensation for this or any other review. This series was won in a contest hosted by the fabulous Perla of Imperial Beach Teens Blog.**