You think your after school job sucks? Try being fifteen-year-old Billi SanGreal for a day. After facing down mean girls in the cafeteria and sleeping through most of her classes, Billi has to go home to her London flat, don some chain mail, and head out into the dark to stake some undead with her hard bitten dad. See, Billi is the daughter of one of the last remaining members of the fabled Knights Templar, a mysterious society of Christian crusaders dating back to the 1100’s. Originally a monastic order of impoverished knights who ferried pilgrims back and forth to the Holy Land, the rag-tag modern day Order defends humanity against the supernatural forces of darkness, including vampires, werewolves and the occasional fallen angel. In spite of being a pretty smooth hand with a sword, Billi is sick of cleaning blood off her jeans and landing in detention for late homework because her driven, distant father thinks decapitating demons is more important than long division. Plus, her half Pakistani & Muslim heritage make her feel like a square peg in a round hole in the traditionally Christian fighting force. Tired of the politics and pain that come from being a Templar, Billi tries to leave the Order, but finds herself sucked back in when she discovers that her lapse in judgment concerning a tall, dark and handsome maniacal stranger may have resulted in the Tenth Plague being released on the greater UK. Equally distracting is the fact that her childhood friend Kay has returned from Oracle training in Jerusalem and somehow managed to turn into a total hottie while he was gone. Now Billi has to find a way to mend her relationship with her forbidding father, figure out if Kay is the Templar for her and somehow stop the Angel of Death from frying all of the world’s firstborn. It’s a tall order, but if anyone can do it, Billi can. Move over, Buffy Summers. Billi SanGreal eats vampires for breakfast. What else ya got? This creepy, cheesetastic gore-fest mixes history, fantasy and horror in a compulsively page turning way that will have you screaming for a sequel long before you hit the final chapter. (And yes, there is one coming.) Did I roll my eyes (okay, more than a few times) over some of the over-the-top bits? Sure. But Billi’s showdowns with various versions of The Unholy are truly terrifying and the book’s fighting sequences frightfully well choreographed. This is a must-read for The Da Vinci Code
It’s like a Da Vinci Code for teens, is what I’ve heard. I’m still sort of reeling from the story; I’m not sure I liked it, but it was INTENSE.
Can’t wait! Who could possible resist a “creepy, cheesetastic gore-fest” 😉 What an awsome review! This is moving up my stack of books to read.
You’ll enjoy it–fast paced and good money shots. The first chapter is material for a great booktalk. And I learned enough about the Templars to talk to the 6th graders about it when it came up in class!
Okay, so when I saw the cover, I thought “Great, another Twilight-like romance book.” Then I read your description and I thought, “I’m in!”
I’m a history nerd (I totally get the whole SanGreal last name; talk about major symbolism!), and a major Buffy fan and I don’t mind a little cheese to break up the usual teen angst monotony in books these days. Thanks for the encouraging review.
Well, if it at all Twilight like, my kids are in, that’s for sure. And how about a book for teens written by a teen? It’s “Sea Clearwater” by Selene Cardenas. Good vs. evil, special talents and abilities and wizards, fairies, gentle creatures, lots of action and adventure. (Personally, I like the categories like “water benders.)
wow! i really liked this book i read the review here and i got it and i loved it. it’s a little different from usual teenage romances and quite honestly it was mostly about the supernatural than the romance but all in all it was a great book!