Dead by Dusk

The book, Dead by Dusk by Shannon Drake, was an exciting choice for me. In this supernatural mystery an American, Stephanie Cahill, takes a summer job in Bella Vista, Rome. Stephanie is an actress from Chicago and will now be directing her own improve group at a local resort in Bella Vista. She had just left Chicago after a nasty break up with her ex-boyfriend, Grant Peterson. As fate would have it Grant, who is a director and amateur archeologist, winds up in Bella Vista also. An earthquake uncovered the ancient archaeological dig site that Grant is working on. As the excavation uncovers more and more artifacts, they discover two bodies with shields. A legendary battle was said to have taken place there, and now they have the proof. But the more digging they do, the stranger the townspeople become and weird, unexplained things begin to happen. Stephanie and Grant begin to reconnect and heat things up again, but both can’t dismiss the strange illness that is seemingly striking without warning, or why they are both having dreams connecting them to the ancient battle that once occurred there.

Shannon Drake’s strength in this book was the element of surprise. I believed, through out much of the story that reincarnation was the connection between Stephanie, Grant, and the ancient battle that unfolded there. I was surprised and very excited to discover it was vampires, not reincarnation. Shannon Drake is an author known for her books about vampires and paranormal phenomenon.

I though Drake’s weakness in this book was a slow start. It took almost half of the book to introduce the characters and tell their stories. Once I got past the initial introductions, the story picked up and became more interesting. This book held my attention.

The story line is one that I could see happening, if vampires were real that is. Drake also follows modern folklore “rules” about vampires. She stays consistent in what are the vampire’s weaknesses, strengths, what can kill them, and what “rules” they must follow. For example, a local girl went missing towards the beginning of the book. She is discovered dead at Grants dig site, killed by what looked like wolves or some kind of animal. At her funeral, her mother storms in and begins to sever her head. She knew her daughter was gone and what was now in her daughter’s body was a vampire.

I enjoyed Drake’s style of writing in this book very much. She began the book with the battle that was legend to have taken place there before introducing me to the modern day characters and their stories. I enjoyed how she gave me a little background on the event that is the connection between past characters and the modern ones. In choosing this style of structure, Drake made it easier for me to make connections between the past and present and understand why the strange events that were occurring were significant. For instance, Grant and Stephanie were both having strange dreams connecting them to the past. Grant was dreaming of an ancient battle in which he was trying to save his love, Valeria. But Grant didn’t know a Valeria. Stephanie was being visited by a strange, seductive, and dark personification of Grant in her dreams. This made the bond between the two grow strong again.

Drake’s character development is quite strong in this book. I am always excited to read a book by Drake. She gives solid physical descriptions of her characters that helped me understand their personalities. Gema Harris, who is an actress in Stephanie’s improve group, is describes by Drake as, “a good actress, a good comedic actress, with a quick wit, which made her a natural for ensemble work that included a lot of improvisational theater. She was far more average-looking, being a tall blonde with a natural hourglass figure and beautiful, long legs-if she did say so herself.” The way Drake described her characters gave me a clear picture of what they looked liked and, for me, made it easier to make a mental picture to distinguish between characters.

My experience of this book was a delightful one. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a little paranormal activity, love story, and mystery all wrapped into one. The book does have somewhat of a slow beginning, but don’t give up on it too soon. If readers like vampires, a present-day story that is entangled with a mysterious, ancient battle of honor, and unusual connections between these story elements, then this book would be a great fit.