Novel: Wicked Game
The Book:
Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin is trying to live the straight life, even if it means finding a (shudder!) real job. She takes an internship at a local radio station, whose late-night time-warp format features 1940s blues, 60s psychedelia, 80s Goth, and more, all with an uncannily authentic flair. Ciara soon discovers how the DJs maintain their cred: they’re vampires, stuck forever in the eras in which they were turned.
Ciara’s first instinct, as always, is to cut and run. But communications giant Skywave wants to buy WMMP and turn it into just another hit-playing clone. Without the station—and the link it provides to their original Life Times—the vampires would “fade,” becoming little more than mindless ghosts of the past. Suddenly a routine corporate takeover becomes a matter of life and un-death.
To boost ratings and save the lives of her strange new friends, Ciara re-brands the station as “WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock ’n’ Roll.” In the ultimate con, she hides the DJs’ vampire nature in plain sight, disguising the bloody truth as a marketing gimmick. WVMP becomes the hottest thing around—next to Ciara’s complicated affair with grunge vamp Shane McAllister. But the “gimmick” enrages a posse of ancient and powerful vampires who aren’t so eager to be brought into the light. Soon the stakes are higher-and the perils graver-than any con game Ciara’s ever played…
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The Verdict:
The premise sounded good and I really looked forward to reading this one.
There are some original concepts in Wicked Game but it just felt a bit flat to me. I also felt the vamps needed to be either more scary or painted in a more “romantic” type of view. What was really missing for me was depth of character. If a vamp has been around for so many years I’d imagine they would have more soul or layers than the one dimensional vamp DJ’s in the book. The authors love of music is obvious through the book and I give her props for providing musicians with some potential exposure.
All in all, Wicked Game is an easy read, more of a love type story than anything and a good read for teens.
Wanted: The Movie
I didn’t have high expectations of this movie, only that it would be someone entertaining. So I was a bit surprised that it was actually not even really that. The plot was really weak and the ending was truly corny. Surprising considering the stars involved; Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie.
Sure the action scenes are cool but the story is predictable, and really, really corny at times. There were scenes that were over the top, some that were more dramatic and some that were downright silly.
If you just want to watch action sequences or Angelia Jolie and don’t care about dialogue or story, then go see it. Otherwise this one is a rental.
http://www.wantedmovie.com/
