Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore

Red Moon Rising by Peter Moore

Hyperion, February 8, 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

Being only half-vamp in a high school like Carpathia Night makes you a whole loser. But Danny Gray manages to escape the worst of the specists at his school. Thanks to genetic treatments he had as an infant, most people assume Danny's other half is human. Which is a good thing.
Ever since the development of synthetic blood – SynHeme – vamps have become society’s elite, while wulves like his father work menial jobs and live in bad neighborhoods. Wulves are less than second class citizens; once a month they become inmates, forced to undergo their Change in dangerous government compounds.
For Danny, living with his vamp mother and going to a school with a nearly all-vamp student body, it’s best to pretend his wulf half doesn’t even exist. But lately Danny's been having some weird symptoms — fantastic night vision; a keener-than-usual sense of smell; and headaches, right around the full moon.
Even though it's easy to be in denial, it's hard to ignore evidence. There's only a month until the next few moon, and Danny's time is running out.
Peter Moore speaks to adolescents in a voice that will have them laughing, set in a world that will get them thinking.

I went into this book with an open mind, although I'm really, really over vampires and werewolves. Actually, I don't think I was ever really into them to begin with--this time around, anyway; I was a HUGE fan of Anne Rice and Interview With a Vampire during the LAST vampire craze.

Anyway, I thought something about this book sounded different from the other paranormal books out there, and I was right. Red Moon Rising could be considered a dystopian novel--with a little alternate history thrown in--about vampyres, werewulves, and humans. And we all know how I love my dystopian fiction! In my opinion, Peter Moore gives us a fresh new take on vamps and wulves. Admittedly, I don't read that much paranormal fiction, but none of these vamps sparkled, and the wulves are definitely not hot in human form. Instead, vampyres have become the elite species, with humans trailing behind, leaving wulves to be considered scum of the earth. They're forced to register with the government, and each month during the full moon are herded up and taken to various compounds, where they can go through their Changes without causing injury to vamp or human. So what if dozens are killed each month? Less of a headache on society, many feel.

In the middle of this strange caste system is Danny, whose dad is a wulf and mom is a vamp. He and his sister underwent the treatments designed to remove all the wulf genes; Jessica's body accepted the treatments, so there is no evidence that she was ever part wulf. Danny's body, however, rejected the treatments before they could be completed, so he's truly half and half. It's fine, though--his friends are accepting of him and most people leave him alone. And it's not like he's actually going to go through the Change, anyway--his vamp genes are stronger than his wulf ones. Until they're not, anymore.

A great story, interesting plot developments, and a vamp and wulf book that guys will want to read as much as girls. The ending was satisfying enough that Red Moon Rising could stand alone, but it could work well for a series, too.

ARC received from publisher. I was not compensated in any way for this review.

Enjoy your reading!
Christi