Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Cassie Alexander: Nightshifted

In her debut novel Cassie Alexander introduces reader to the paranormal side or nursing those that go bump in the night and all the extra difficulties that go along with it.

Edie is the newest nurse on the specialized Y4 unit and while nursing school would have prepared Edie for a lot, nothing could prepare for working on the creatures that Edie was not aware that they even existed. Edie's current patient is a vampire servant who is being anything but cooperative and Edie is having to keep a constant eye on him just to make sure he stays alive. However, Edie did not know that this one patient is about to change her life, as he dies under her watch it sets into motion events that no one could foresee and she is haunted by his dying request to save Anna. Edie finds herself trapped in a game that she has no control over.

This is really good easy read that I think readers of the paranormal genre will enjoy. This book was light and funny at times and was not overly dark which is part what made it easy to read. This is not to say that nothing happens within this book, overall there is quite a bit of action and mystery throughout the book, but Alexander did really good job in balancing it out with humour and Edie's whit. Alexander was able to create a good story and right off that I was able to get engaged and invested with the characters within this book within the first few pages. I appreciated that Alexander kept the romance and sex to the minimum but I still think that there is enough there to satisfy those who prefer the paranormal romance sub-genre. I think that his book had something for everyone who enjoys the paranormal genre (paranormal, not horror), especially if you are looking for some a little bit different and easy to read.

Many of the creatures within the book are a common within the paranormal genre, therefore, there are vampire, werewolves, zombies (not like  have read about them before, but I am sure others have), but Alexander does take her time to establish a new being, Shadows. These creatures protect access to the hospital, however, their talent is not just turning unsuspecting humans away, they feed off of the despair of other people (and really what better place to be housed that the hospital). I think the Shadows are interesting and while they have a fairly important role you do not really get to know too much about them and what they have the ability to do, so I hope that Alexander explores them further in series.

I liked the idea of Edie being a nurse who works specifically with paranormal creatures and really you name it she treats it. It will be interesting to see what creatures come in for a visit the in the next book. Edie is a great character who may not be the regular kick-ass heroine you normally see in the paranormal genre but what makes Edie unique is that is is Human, that's it plan old human. Who knew that just being Human would be an unique aspect in this genre, but it was nicely refreshing. Edie is also in a tough spot in her life, and the reason she is working on Y4 is to help her brother stay sober from drugs and alcohol, even though he is determined to get High, however, Edie does not complain about this situation she just knows that she needs to do it. Edie is very self aware of her strength and weakness and has a sense of her own self worth, which means there are times where she get depressed, as I stated above, not the typical kick-ass heroine in this book. I think Edie is a breath of fresh air as a character in the paranormal genre.

This is an easy read and I think sure to please those who read in the paranormal genre. It has something a little different from the norm, especially with the main character Edie and the fact that she is a human, as well as the overall flow, plot and mystery within the book. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Enjoy!!!!
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1 comment:

  1. Great Review!
    I've been looking for some good paranormal series to start this year, and I have never heard of this one before. So thanks for bringing it to my attention :) It's definitely going on my TBR!

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