Samantha Ryan expected her days as an agent with the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) to be a bit more exciting than her previous years as a state police officer. Unfortunately, Gabriel Stern is proving to be a very reluctant partner, saddling Sam with the most tedious and boring tasks. All of this is about to change, however, when two seemingly unrelated cases appear connected and they lead Gabriel and Sam straight into the military secrets of Hopeworth... and Sam's mysterious past. Will Sam and Gabriel learn to work together in time to save lives, perhaps even their own lives?

GENERATION 18 is the second book in The Spook Squad series and picks up shortly after the first book ends. There are some ongoing story threads that are further developed in GENERATION 18, making it a book best appreciated in the context of the series as a whole. Besides, why on earth would you want to miss out on reading a single Keri Arthur book?

GENERATION 18 lets us delve more into Sam's budding powers as well as her own personal history. I love watching Sam become more comfortable in her own identity as she's had a lot of harsh surprises. Meanwhile, Hopeworth Military Base has held onto quite a few secrets over the years and now the ramifications of their projects are creating problems for the SIU. The plethora of supernatural creatures and powers is enough to make any lover of urban fantasy happy.

Keri Arthur never ceases to amaze me at her world building. I read and loved The Spook Squad series in its first incarnation and am still amazed rereading it today just how beautifully complex her worlds are. Keri Arthur draws the reader into her stories immediately as we want to know the answers right along with Sam and Gabriel. We see glimpses of the various factions, including the SIU, state police, Federation, and Sethanon, as Keri Arthur throws us tantalizing teasers to keep us rapidly flipping the pages... only to leave us wanting even more as GENERATION 18 concludes. Keri Arthur is a master of the urban fantasy novel and I can't recommend this series highly enough!

Book Summary

A serial killer strikes every twelve hours. A vampire takes lives at random. At first glance, these tragic incidents seem unrelated. But Special Investigations Unit agents Sam Ryan and Gabriel Stern trace them both back to a military base known as Hopeworth. Is the murder spree part of a cover-up? And are the vampire killings less by chance and more methodical?

The investigation takes an eerie, personal turn when Sam discovers a connection between herself and the victims—and a clue to her own mysterious origins. With the violence escalating and the danger drawing closer to home, the stakes are raised and the mission changes from seeking justice to ensuring Sam and Gabriel’s own survival. And the one person who seems to hold all the answers—about Hopeworth, about Sam’s past—is a mystery man she isn’t sure she can trust. They share a psychic link through her dreams, and he once saved her life, but he may just be the greatest enemy humankind has ever known.

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