The Endangered is a fast paced novel, dark and slick revolving around the central theme of a war between vampires and werewolves.  That isn’t particularly a new concept in vampire stories but what is different with this story is that the vampires are actually trying to protect everyone’s way of life maintaining a minimalist presence whilst the werewolves are plotting something on such a huge and nefarious scale that it will completely change the nature of the world as we know it.

At the start of the story (following a short prologue involving a car chase) we’re introduced to college student Lori who is going about her normal, regular life oblivious to the existence of supernatural creatures until the night she meets the enigmatic Catch who she almost instantly feels a connection to.  Catch of course is a vampire and has been given instructions to recruit Lori.  The background to this, which is fleshed out more in the book, is that vampire numbers are dramatically decreased to such an extent that they are actually losing the fight against werewolves.  Lori has a certain ‘condition’ which I won’t expand upon but gives the vampires who have chosen her the belief that she will have the ability to foresee events.  To a certain extent this is true although the visions are rarely helpful so far which could simply be that she has not as yet fully developed the technique.

Lori and Catch share a love hate relationship.  No instalove – just intense attraction followed by bitterness, from Lori, at the way Catch has changed her world and regret from Catch over the way he’s changed her world and the surprise he feels at how attached he appears to be becoming towards her.  On top of that – Lori is introduced to the rest of the vampires.  They all inhabit a large mansion in the English countryside which whilst appearing to all extents and purposes to belong to something out of the dark ages is fully equipped and modernised within.  It’s here that the vampires train using a vast array of weapons before going out to target and eliminate the wolves they have uncovered.  This frequently involves them taking flights at short notice to locations around the world.  Werewolf activity is not after all restricted to one geographical location.

In terms of characters the author is rather brutal to say the least.  Basically it doesn’t pay to become too attached.  There is plenty of action and naturally casualties as a result.  I wouldn’t say that the characters are particularly well fleshed out, I would have liked, for example, to get more into the head of Lori, particularly after her ‘change’ but the focus here is more on the action and the ongoing war.

I think it’s probably inevitable that people will make comparisons to Underworld which is in a way appropriate in terms of the fact that there is plenty of fighting and the vampires inhabit a dark and modern world, a world where they have been used to having the upper hand and even now have a superior attitude.  They try to avoid exposure to humans at all costs and in that respect they ‘police’ their own behaviour.  However, during the course of one of their werewolf fights they start to uncover a real threat being hatched by the werewolves.   From there on out it’s all out action, fights, buildings blowing up and car chases not to mention deceit and betrayal.

I enjoyed this.  It was a quick read, fast paced and action packed.  If you’re looking for a gothic and sinister read or wordy and weighty descriptions then you may be disappointed.  This is not that type of novel.  I would have liked a little more character development but I guess that could be expanded upon in future novels.

I think this will definitely appeal to readers who like a more quick and compelling read and providing you go into the story with that knowledge you’ll enjoy this – it’s a quick read and quite a page turner.

I received a copy of this through the publisher in return for a honest review.  The above is my own opinion.