Author: Heather Brewer
Release Date: October 16, 2012
Publisher: Dial (Penguin imprint)
The summer after Joss failed to kill the vampire Vladimir Tod, he gets a second chance to prove himself as a slayer. He's sent to New York City to hunt down a serial killer that the Slayer Society believes to be a vampire. It's up to Joss to lead his Slayer team, and through their detective work, they discover who the real culprit is, that there's more than one killer. He'll have to use all of his skill to save the innocent people of NYC. His status as a Slayer depends on it.
Second Chance is a deeper look into the mind of a very complicated and conflicted character. The whole series looks to be a more in-depth look at Joss's character, at his mind and his motives for doing what he does, and what the reader will find is that his mind is dark, troubled, and filled with so much angst over what to do next.
The book returns to Joss' side and his job as a Slayer after the sudden revelation that the friend he just made (before this book starts) is the vampire Vladimir Tod. This makes for a very confused Joss, because his job is to kill vampires to keep the human population safe, but he knows Vlad, he knows he's not evil. It makes for some massive internal and external conflict. In New York, he's forced to keep many secrets from his uncle and the rest of the Slayers around him, but they're also keeping some secrets from him. And it's up to Joss to figure out who this serial killer is, whether it's a vampire or not, and if there's only one killer to hunt down.
It should be surprising to open this book to discover that his sister Cecile is still constantly on his mind. Never mind the new revelations with Vlad, Joss is still unsuccessfully coping with his sister's murder. This is his ongoing struggle, to discover who murdered her, to find the vampire that did it, and to drive his stake into its heart. But his dreams of Cecile are haunting, almost brutal, and it could make the reader question Joss' sanity at times.
A definite recommendation for those who've read and enjoyed The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod series, but for those who are new, make sure to at least read First Kill before reading Second Chance.
(I received a finished copy from Penguin Canada.)
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