Mini Review: Wicked Game (WVMP Radio, #1), by Jeri Smith-Ready



LATE NIGHT RADIO YOU CAN SINK YOUR TEETH INTO
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 just 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 WVMP 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 is a matter of life and undeath.

To boost ratings and save the lives of her strange new friends, Ciara rebrands 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...

(From GoodReads)

My Review

I don't know if it's fair to call this a review. Mainly it's me gushing about this book, the author and how happy and nostalgic they made me feel.  But first, let me make a shocking announcement.

Guys and Girls, I am about to utter words that I thought would never cross my lips. I can't even believe I'm going to say it. Are you ready? Really ready? Here goes...

I have found a vampire that I love even more than Bones.

So who is this intriguing vamp who has stolen my heart? Shane McAllister from the WVMP Radio series by Jeri Smith-Ready. To those who know and love Bones, I know that sounds like crazy-talk. But only to those of you who haven't read the WVMP Radio series.

You may ask, why I have formed such a love for Shane. Well, Shane is perpetually stuck in the 1990s, and all that comes with it. As someone with a major weak spot for that era, that aspect of Shane definitely drew me in. Shane embodies the emotions of my early teen years. Something I suppose I've been missing without realizing. But, besides that aspect of Shane, he's sexy, seriously sweet, more than a little dangerous, but never, ever mean, and emotionally vulnerable. Did I say sexy? I think I did. Well, double it.

Jeri Smith-Ready created a unique, sexy and cool new breed of vampires. I've never come across a concept quite like this one. Vampires are basically stuck in the era they were created. The music and clothes, the manner of speaking all reflect that. The way the feed, the way they and the donor react, holy smokes, it made me get all hot and sweaty and creeped out and... well, I think you get the idea.

I can't even believe that I haven't mentioned the main character, Ciara, yet. Ciara has to be one of my favorite protagonists I've ever come across. She is tough, but does have a soft (but hard to reach) interior. She is smart, very smart, when it comes to the vampires. She doesn't let them run all over her, but she doesn't treat them like freaks either. She is an all-around badass and I love her.

On a side note, if there is one thing that rivals my love for a good book, that would be good music. And let me tell you, Jeri Smith-Ready knows good music. She wove it into the book, letting the music help tell the story. Wicked Game is almost as much about the music as the story. I bought at least ten songs off the Wicked Game playlist, songs featured in the book. If you love and appreciate awesome music, you will love this series.

I meant it when I said this was intended as a min-review. I just want to quickly and loudly tell you to read this series ASAP. But, like I tend to do in real life (just ask my husband), I got distracted. Distracted by my passion for the awesome. And that, in a not so tidy nutshell is what Wicked Game is. Pure awesomeness. I honestly can not recommend it more emphatically.

Favorite Quotes:

“As he presses me against the car and his fingers tangle in my hair, I find myself hoping-and fearing-that I'll never be the object of such a love, one that could bring a man to his knees and never let him stand again.”

“Parents, preachers, and politicians think rock music is the source of young people's despair. They don't understand it's just a reflection. They also forget that music can be a source of hope, a reason to live.”

“Shane closes his eyes and groans deep in his throat, a noise that embodies sex and death. His back arches, and his fingers rake the carpet as if to pull it up like grass.”

Paperback, 384 pages

Published May 13th 2008 by Pocket

Find Wicked Game (WVMP Radio,  #1) at:

GoodReads  |  Constellations Books  (where you can get signed copies)  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Amazon  Book Depository