Nightlife.

By Rob Thurman.

Cal and Niko are on the run. Their mother, an extremely unpleasant and mercenary fortune teller, slept with a monstrous sort of elf called an Auphe (or in Cal-and-Niko parlance, a Grendel), and that made Cal half-monster. When he was fourteen, his father kidnapped him, set his mother on fire, and disappeared with him into another world. Cal returned two days later in our time...and two years older, with no memory of what had gone on in those two years. Niko's his older half-brother, a heroic figure with tons of weapons and martial arts knowledge straight outta the comics. The two of them are loyal to each other, because who else can they trust? They've been on the run for four years, but in New York, they've spotted an Auphe around...

So, should they keep running, or not? Niko wants to, Cal doesn't. (He's also kind of interested in the cute teen psychic girl who won't tell them what's going on.) And then they meet Robin Goodfellow, a lonely puck who starts hanging around and trying to help them with their problem. But things don't go well...

It's an intriguing book. I kind of wish I'd gotten to know certain characters better (George and some characters at the end in particular), but maybe that'll happen in another book. I also have to give kudos for a major um...well, I can't say because it'll be spoiling, but I'll just say "change in the narrative" at the middle. The way that worked was well done, plus put a really interesting twist on things.

Four stars from me.

Comments

[Lyla]

I just bought Nightlife, yesterday and I haven't put it down since. I'm already on chapter 17. What I am wondering is if you found any background on the Auphe, like their origins... I know all the other fantasy characters, but this one bugs me. Where do the Auphe come from. I looked up Grendels the things about it didn't even come close to what the book described...I dunno...please email me with information if you can. Thanks for your time.

~Lyla

[Roxy]

I give this book a 4.9 and that's just cause Goodfellow drove me insane. I had been looking for a good book, picky reader I am, and this was more than what I was looking for. I was eager to know more and i'm even more eager now that i've finished it. I NEED to read book 2 asap! Excellent job with character developement and the style of writing had me laughing the entire time!