The Year of Disappearances
by Susan Hubbard

    THE YEAR OF DISAPPEARANCES by Susan Hubbard
    Category:  Paranormal
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 9+
    Release Date:  5/6/08
    Publisher:  Simon & Schuster
    Reviewed by:  JodiG.
    Rating:  5 Stars


    There is a secret society.  They live in plain view.  They seem very much like you and me.  But, if you look very
    closely, you may notice that the person you’re speaking to doesn’t have a shadow.  

    There are vampires living amongst us.  They are highly evolved; not at all like the vampires you’ve grown up with.  
    They work and play in the daylight, they are friendly and educated, and a growing number of them have never
    tasted human blood and have no need for it.

    Ariella Montero lives in the chasm between our two worlds.  She is half-human, half-vampire and is struggling to
    find her place in both societies.  She can read minds, hypnotize people, and make herself invisible.  But can she
    establish real relationships in the human world and escape the dangers that threaten her in the vampire world?

    Years ago Ari’s best friend was murdered.  Ari remembers the night.  Her father was engaged in a battle with
    another man.  And there was a fire.  

    Now, Ari is living a new life with her mother in Florida.  But strange things are beginning to happen.  It started
    when the honeybees began to die.  Then Ari noticed a man in a van following her.  A new friend was murdered and
    another friend disappeared.  It is all too coincidental to ignore. Is Ari to blame or is she being preyed upon?

    THE YEAR OF DISAPPEARANCES offers a unique concept of what it is like to be a vampire in modern
    society.  It is a cleverly written story line that easily leaves the possibility for future books.  Although this title
    follows THE SOCIETY OF S, it can easily stand alone.  And, I can only hope that author Susan Hubbard decides
    to develop the story of Ari and her “kind” into a long-running series!