Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon (site)
Published: May 25, 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 480 (Hardcover)
Price: $10.52 Amazon $11.99 Book Depository
Series: Chronicles of Nick #1 (Spin-off of Dark Hunters)
Rating: 2/5
Synopsis: At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.
Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.
But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.
As if starting high school isn't hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that? (Goodreads)
Initial Thoughts: I really, really wanted to love this book. I think the cover is amazing. It makes me want to know what he's all about, why he looks so downtrodden. I decided to read one of the Dark Hunters books that Nick is apparently a character in . Unfortunately, I really disliked the book. After reading it, I put off Infinity indefinitely. However, after a while I decided What the heck, I'll read it. The story sounds like a lot of fun: zombies start popping up and he realizes that he goes to school with a bunch of werewolves, demon hunters, etc.
Review: I want to start by saying that this book had a lot of potential. I like the idea of it, a paranormal-heavy community in New Orleans. A main character who has been through a lot, a street-wise kid who has worked hard to get a scholarship to a private school. The problem is the execution. I don't know if she just had too many ideas, too many things she wanted to fit in, or what. The whole thing felt very slap-dash and disjointed. Nick's one-liners were often stupid or cheesy. The whole "meese" bit was particularly stupid. I could see maybe where she was going, but she didn't explain it at all so it just sounded stupid. Nick didn't feel very authentic. His motivations were a bit off, his personality felt muddled. I just couldn't connect with him at all. There were some really great supporting characters. The two redneck zombie hunters were a blast. The plot was a bit crazy as well. The whole parentage thing was a bit too vague and convoluted. There were too many characters introduced too fast. I kept mixing up his "uncle" with his new "friend" from school. I feel that if things had developed more slowly, each character given more of a chance to make an impression on the reader, this could've been a great book. The second I closed it, I thought that I really liked it. However, the more distance I get from it, the more I realize that I just really wanted to like it. I'll probably give the second book a chance, but I won't be recommending that anyone else waste their money on the hardcover version.
Quick Review: Infinity had a lot of potential, but the book felt too rushed, everything thrown together in a jumble. The characters needed some work, Nick was all over the place. I like the idea for the series, but the next book had better be amazing or I'm done.
P.S. This is probably the worst review I've ever written, and I feel a bit guilty, but I just find myself unable to candy-coat this one. I would be mad if I read a nice review about this one and then picked it up to find out that it was a mess. I hope no one takes this personally, as I'm sure that it appealed to some people, but sometimes you just have to tell it like it is.
