Beta - Rachel Cohn

In the city of Demesne on Io everything is perfect, including the clones made to serve the humans living there.  Elysia is a teen beta, cloned from her firsts DNA.  The first is a human that died so the beta could be born.  Mrs. Bratton comes into a boutique looking for someone to take the place of her daughter.  Astrid has gone to college and wants nothing to do with the family.  As soon as Mrs. Bratton sees Elysia she buys her immediately.  Mrs. Bratton comes home with Elysia and introduces her to Ivan and Liesel, Elysia's new siblings.  Mr. Bratton, a.k.a. The Governor, is not happy with Mrs. Bratton buying Elysia, but accepts her as part of the family.  Elysia trains with Ivan, who is going to join the military.  She also comforts Liesel at night after she has nightmares, just like a big sister would.  She spends most of her time with Mrs. Bratton, but does hang out with Ivan and his friends as the swim or take drugs to get high.  Whenever she is swimming she sees visions of a beautiful guy, which she concludes it is a memory of someone her first of knew.  The only nutrition she needs is a strawberry shake once a day, but Elysia sits down with the Bratton's and eats the food.  She especially takes a liking to chocolate.  The thing is betas aren't supposed to remember the lives of their first, or have enjoyment from food.  If the betas do they are considered rogue and are dispensed with.  There have been rumors lately of the clones wanting to rebel against their human masters.  When Ivan's friend, Tahir, comes back after recovering from a really bad surfing accident, everyone sees he is different.  When Elysia spends a week at his home she discovers that he too is a beta, and only a few people know what he truly is.  During this week there is a bombing which is blamed on the other beta Elysia was with in the boutique.   After she returns to the Bratton's one of the other clones goes rogue, jumps off a cliff and dies.  Elysia can no longer hide the fact she is a rogue.  One night when Ivan tries to have sex with her, Elysia kills him and runs away.  With everyone in pursuit she jumps off a cliff into the water below. 

This was a really good book.  It kept me wanting to turn the page to find out what was going to happen next, especially when the plot line of the rebellion of the clones came into the storyline.  No matter how perfect something is on the outside there is always something hidding that shatters the perfection.  I'm glad this is the first book of a series because after I finished it I wanted more.  The ending also brought up questions that readers will want answers to.  I can't wait until the next book comes out. 

T.B. 3/28/13

Rotters - Daniel Kraus

Joey Crouch has a good life in Chicago. He is a straight A student, plays the trumpet, and lives with his mom. Then his mom dies in a tragic accident. Joey is uprooted and sent to rural Iowa to live with his dad. His dad's house is littered with newspapers and books along with a rotting stench to it that will not go away. The kids at Joey's new school ask him what his dad does because he is supposedly a garbageman, but nobody sees him pick up any trash around the town. His biology teacher uses him as a human guinea pig in class every day. He ignores them to focus on getting good grades. A bump in this road is his dad who buries his homework, his trumpet, or anything else that Joey might need for school. Joey must dig to get his possessions back. Even though he does not realize it at the time his dad is training him to become a digger. Diggers dig up graves to take the valuables that might lie with the dead. The first time he goes out with his dad he helps out more than he thought. Joey is able to get the grieving daughter away long enough so his dad can dig up the father's grave. This act earns him some respect with the other Diggers. As he accompanies his dad on more and more digs, he attends school less and less. Even when Joey does go to class the kids still tease him about his smell and what his dad does for a job. At one point Joey just snaps and decides to take his revenge on his biology teacher and two of the popular kids who harassed him all the time. After he gets his revenge Joey runs away with another digger named Boggs to California.

When I first saw the title I thought it was going to be a zombie book, but after reading the inside cover I found out it was not. This book takes you into the world of grave robbing, a place where many of us probably would not go. As I was reading Rotters, it seemed very similar to The Monstrumologist by Richard Yancey. I believe that readers who liked The Monstrumologist will enjoy Rotters, and vice versa.

T.B. 3/9/12

Draw the Dark - Ilsa J. Bick

The town of Winter, Wisconsin has a dark past, one that people have forgotten. Back in 1945 the town served as a place where German prisoners of war were held. They were cheap labor and helped run the factory in town. At one point all of the Jewish people there left the town, and no one knows why. Fast forward to 2011 where Christian Cage, nephew of the town sheriff, goes and spray paints the side of an old barn. The owner presses charges, and Christian is sentenced to community service at the local nursing home. It is there he meets the last surviving Jew from the World War Two era. After seeing David Witek, Christian begins to have strange visions, when he dreams and draws, about the town of Winter back in 1945 from David's point of view. From these visions of the past Christian is able to piece together what really happened back in 1945, and uncover the mysterious and forgotten past of Winter, Wisconsin.

This book was good, a bit scary, and an edge of your seat read. The plot moved forward really well, and there was no sluggish or boring parts to it. It was a whole lot better than the other small town with a secret book, Cryer's Cross, I read back in May.

T.B. 7/2/11