The Reading Date

When tragedy strikes at Tulsa's House of Night, Zoey and Heath are called to return from the Otherworld. Zoey must fulfill her high priestess duties and support her friends. Neferet is still villainous as ever in her quest to become immortal, and will sacrifice anyone to achieve her goal. Stevie Ray is dealing with the repercussions of being bonded with a Raven Mocker. Can Zoey and her friends stop Neferet and Kalona from achieving their evil plans?The 8th installment of the House of Night brings the usual twists and turns you come to expect with this series. There is the epic battle between good and evil presented along with tales of love and heartache.This book continues the author's trend of multiple narrations. Several characters, including Zoey, Neferet, Stevie Ray, Kalona and Rephaim, narrate this installment. I like this story telling device for this series, and find the change from Zoey's narration to be interesting. Zoey and Stevie Ray have some quirks with their dialogue and pop culture references and it is nice to take a break from them now and then.This is the first book of the series that I have listened to in audio format. The reader does a good job with the dialects including Stevie Ray's and Zoey's. Her Irish dialect made me chuckle, but that could be in part from the character's dialogue as well.The book starts out rather slow and it takes awhile for the action to kick in. Once you are past the halfway point, there are surprises and reveals to keep the story entertaining. The book ends with a bang and hints of things to come with the next book.Although I think this series has gone on way too long, and I am not as invested in vampire series as I once was, I still continue to pick up these books. I suppose it is because I have invested the time into the series and want to see it through to its conclusion. This installment is book 8 of 12 planned books. The first few are the best of the series, in my opinion. Recommended for fans of teen paranormal romance and vampire fans.The next installment in the series is called Destined and it is due out November 5, 2011.