Now Entering Addamsville

by Francesca Zappia

[Sam@WLABB]

Once upon a time, there were firestarters, demons, who were responsible for generations of deaths in Addamsville. Her mother hunted them and was passing on the family trade to Zora. That was until her mother disappeared. But, now the demons were back, and it was up to Zora and her cousin, Artemis, to rid their town of this scourge. Would Zora survive another showdown with the firestarters?

This book was nothing that I was expecting, and everything I never knew I wanted. It was creepy, a bit dark, and really fun. I have been seeing people dropping Buffy references, but all I kept feeling, as I read this book, were Supernatural vibes. I mean, Zora was a tough cookie, who drove a muscle car and had a demon for a friend. Sounds like she would fit right in with Sam and Dean.

So, Zora was a hunter, and the hunt for the firestarter was definitely a big part of this story, however there were also a lot of other things going on in Zora's life. You see, this was not her first tussle with the demons, and the last meeting left her missing two fingers and with an unearned reputation as an arsonist. The whole town had sort of turned against her, but Zora couldn't turn her back on Addamsville, and that's why she was willing to take up the hunt again. To protect her family and her town.

The story was fast-paced fun, which had me hooked from the very beginning, but what really made this story shine were the characters. I think you can already guess that Zora was fantastic, and though she considered herself a loner, when push came to shove, there were several people ready to stand by her side. Her ice cream crew, her cousin, her sister, and her sister's boyfriend were steadfast supporters of Zora, and I loved them all.

I had a great time as Zora and the gang met up with ghosts and searched for the demons, but I also appreciated the more emotional issues Zappia incorporated. You see, Zora's battle with demons were both literal and figurative. Zora was dealing with isolation, poverty, a father in prison, and a missing/dead mother. Her sister was forced to act as her parent, while her father was incarcerated, and they had to deal with the scorn of the whole town in the fallout of their father's Ponzi scheme. You would think that was enough to sour Zora on Addamsville, but she didn't let any of that get in the way of fulfilling her duty as a hunter.

This was a dark and humorous look at life in a small town, which I hope gets a sequel, because Grim's final line begged for this story to be continued.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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