Not out of darkness, or chaos, or mist or murk. The boy felt as if he’d emerged, fully conscious and wholly formed, out of nothing. an utterly minor subplot that emerged in the last couple of chapters was a far more engaging idea than the main plot had been.and might be enough to get me to read the sequel(s) to see if that ever gets worked out. it's also sprinkled with obvious clues that this is a first novel - there were several references to past events that sounded like recollections rather than introductions, and had me flipping back through looking for torn-out pages. that authentic teen voice gets right whiny after a while (GAH it's good to be an adult!), all the truly creepy bits feel cribbed right out of a Miéville novel, and the main character's brother is more shiningly perfect than clark kent. I really wanted to like this book for all of the above, for it being a bit different from the routine (i really love UF, but i'm really getting sick of the mediocre retreads), but ultimately, eh, we'll have to settle for merely liking it. if that sounds fantastic to you, well, perhaps you should give this one a shot. there are real consequences, and there are no guarantees that everyone will make it out unscathed. the teen protagonist actually sounds like a teenager, not an adult trying to remember how he rolled way back when. 'nightlife' is a refreshing alternative for those that are sick of their UF being more about the sexytimes and less about things that go bump in the night - it's very dark, occasionally shading into out-and-out horror territory, and nobody feels the need to stop running from the monsters for a quick roll in the hay.

It's funny how some things with very good pieces just don't add up to a very good whole.

Happenstance Found by P.W. Catanese