Comicality "Blood Bank" Review - "Savior" By DJ Jones -- The Vampire Warehouse

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Date Posted: 14:32:27 11/16/14 Sun
Author: Comicality
Subject: Comicality "Blood Bank" Review - "Savior" By DJ Jones

"Savior" is definitely an impressive debut from author, DJ Jones! You get hooked on the premise of what's going on in the first few sentences of the very first chapter, and five chapters later...it has yet to let me go! So I'm definitely excited to see how things unfold from here!

Once again, I try to keep the reviews mostly 'spoiler free', but since this is as much for the author as it is for the readers of this story, I may touch on things that might be better left as a secret until you start reading the series on your own! So if you haven't read "Savior" yet (You can find the series HERE!), go check it out, and then come back to read this review later!

So the story "Savior" is centered around a 14 year old boy named 'Tyler' who has been an actual witness to a murder in a local Chicago alley, and is now fully aware of the fact that VAMPIRES exist in the world! That right there is already awesome. I mean, it's gotta happen all the time, right? :)

So Tyler not only sees these two young vampires make short work of their prey for the evening, but he has now become determined to find one of the boys that were involved with the act. A cute blond boy who followed him home that same night, not to cause him any harm, but apparently just to let him know that he was real, and that he was watching. Hehehe, spooky!

During the day we get to meet his one and only best friend, Kim, who's bubbly personality makes her a lighthearted counterpart to Tyler's worrying and insecurity, and it's fun seeing the two of them together. She's agreed to help him educate himself on vampires so he can seek out this beautiful stranger and maybe ask some of the questions that have been plaguing his mind since the incident first happened. One of the things I really like about this story is that nothing has really been revealed yet in terms of the vampire's intentions, which is a really interesting road to take in a story like this. As far as any level of menace, or shared fascination with one another, or any sort of physical or sexual attraction, are all 'hinted' at...but not really disclosed within the first 6 Chapters. So the mystery will keep your focus and yearning for more as you follow Tyler into the fog and discover the answers along with him. I thought that was really well done.

I also like the character of Jasmine a lot. She begins as a waitress in a coffee shop, but as the story progresses, she becomes much more involved with the plot, and you can't help but wonder what she's up to, and what her connection may be to this mysterious boy from the alley. Also expertly done! I'd like to see her character continue to build in the chapters to come. :)

Not to mention that I LOVE that it's in Chicago too! Hehehe! But that's just me! I'm biased!

One thing that I would mention about this story as far as the characters are concerned would be their introduction to the series itself. That very first impression. I think it's a small thing, but it's something that I notice in stories from time to time and there have been times when I've done it myself, so I try to look out for that. It's a little something that I call 'setting the stage', and I think it helps keep readers glued to the story without being taken out of it. It just makes it read a bit smoother.

When I mention setting the stage, I'm talking about reader involvement. Whenever people start reading a story, they begin to visualize everything in their head. Just to sort of make everything concrete in their minds so they have a mental image to hold onto when things get put into motion. As far as the environment, DJ Jones did an excellent job of setting it up and painting a picture for people to grab on to. It's Chicago, it's the city, it's dark, its the dead of Winter...you read that, and you know exactly where you are. Awesome! Same with the daytime details, or Tyler being at home with his dad asleep on the couch, or Kim taking him to the bookshelves. (Would that be the "Vampire Book" from Konstantinos? I OWN that book! Hehehe!) However, with some of the main characters themselves, I think I stumbled a few times.

For example, we don't even learn Tyler's 'name' until the second chapter. Which isn't a big thing, but I remember reaching the end of the first chapter and going back over to see if I missed it somewhere along the way. The second chapter fixes that almost immediately, but I had an idea of this main character, the narrator of the story, in my head...and didn't know what to call him. But, I kept reading...and later found out that he was only 14. In my head I thought he was a bit older, simply because of the coffee shop and the lateness of the hour. But, 14 works for me. I mentally pictured him that way from then on. But then, it's mentioned that he's a bit short for his age. A "shrimp", as he put it. I was picturing him a bit taller and all, but now I was thinking, "Ok...so maybe he's a bit of a waifish boy, a late bloomer of sorts. Ok, gotchya."

Of course, all of Tyler's descriptions are fine as they are, but the reason I always advise writers to set the stage early is so they can get a clear picture of the character in their heads at the beginning, and hold onto that image without having to go back and re-evaluate that image later. If that makes sense. Be cause even though it only took me a couple of seconds, I had to ditch one image of Tyler and create another one before I could move on with the rest of the story. And I think it takes you out of the moment slightly when you have to do that. Another character would be the father. In the beginning he seemed like a bit of a loser, which I think DJ Jones was looking to accomplish. However, while he seemed like the kind of guy who just came home, got drunk, and passed out...too lazy to cause any real trouble...a few chapters later he seems much more aggressive. More of a threat. Nothing wrong with that, but from the way he was presented, he seemed more 'neglectful' in the beginning than 'abusive'. So I would maybe hint at some of those traits in the first chapter so it doesn't catch anyone by surprise later on.

DJ Jones does just great with this with some of the other characters though. With Jasmine, you get a clear picture right away. Or the guy in the library who "looks like he just stepped out of a NIN video". Perfect descriptions, paints a picture, and remains consistent. So I know he'd be awesome at it. Could probably fix that with a few clever sentences here and there. If this had been a movie and was more visual, this wouldn't be an issue at all. People could see it. But since writing relies, almost entirely, on the imagination of the readers, I always try to personally give them everything they need to visualize as soon as possible. Almost just to get it out of the way. But that's totally up to each other to decide for themselves.

Other than that, amazing new vampire story! Lots of mystery and an interesting build to something that we haven't yet been introduced to! But the ride is sure to be just as much fun as the big reveal! So thanks for this one, DJ Jones! I'll be looking forward to reading more! :)

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