Review: Drowning in the Dark by Allison Karras

Title: Drowning in the Dark
Author: Allison Karras
Source: Received from author in exchange for honest review

Synopsis:

There’s a demon walking the streets of Freeport. And only teenager Samantha Carver can stop it.

It’s hard to outrun your past. But that’s what Sam thought she could do. After moving to a sleepy town on the Oregon coast to live with relatives, she thought she was safe. She thought she could be someone different. She thought she could be a normal teenage girl.

However, the quiet coastal town of Freeport is no refuge. After a girl at the high school is brutally murdered, the police believe Samantha’s cousin and best friend, Terry, is responsible.

But Samantha knows what her friends, teachers, and the police don’t. The murderer isn’t human. Samantha has seen this before. Too many times. She has witnessed the dead rise from their graves and do unspeakable things. She carries the scars on her skin and the sorrow in her soul to prove it.

The evil that she thought she had left behind in the rotting graveyards of her past is still stalking her.

Will Samantha be able to save Terry, Freeport, and herself from the malevolent power that threatens to rip her world apart? Or will she succumb under a surging tide of evil and drown in the growing darkness that surrounds her?



Review:




I'll have to say that I was surprised at how well I enjoyed this story. Drowning in the Dark is about a 15 year old girl named Samantha. There is something special about her, she is a rare survivor of a zombie/demon attack. The awful scar that she receives from the attack somehow lets her know when another dead human body is about to be possessed. It is now her mission to kill these zombies before they are able to hurt anyone else.

Samantha has had an awful life. She is such a young girl to have seen so much horror, and to have lived with so many traumatic experiences. She is so strong and brave though. The book has flashbacks to her past experiences. This is definitely a creepy story. It takes place on the Oregon coast, and there is just something creepy about the setting. There's not really a love story in this book, but the potential is there and I see it happening in the next book in this trilogy. I'm hoping to see it happen, though to some it might seem like an odd pairing.

I thought this book was really well written, especially for a debut author. It's full of mystery and intrigue that keeps you interested throughout. Because the book is novella length, it is fairly fast paced. I think the one thing that I would change is the cover. I'm really not wanting to hurt any feelings here, but I was a bit disinterested by seeing the cover. This really is a great story, and I think a different cover to give it a different vibe would help this story sell. Of course, since I have started designing covers, I think I have been more critical than most people would be. I'm constantly thinking about what I would do differently. In this case, I think it needs a more young adult feel. Overall though, I would definitely recommend this book and author to paranormal fans. I think Allison Karras has a lot of talent and I'm really looking forward to reading the next book – especially after that cliffhanger!

You can buy the book at the following places:
Amazon (Kindle)
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
Smashwords (all formats)


Find the author here at her blog:
http://allisonkarras.blogspot.com/