Blood Moon

What would you get if you combined The Terminator, I am Number 4, and Roswell? Add a hefty dose of creativity and imagination, and it might look something like The Rising series—a collaboration from bestselling authors Heather Graham and Jon Land.

Blood Moon, the second in the series, takes an already high-octane thriller, pumps up the stakes, and sends our heroes, Alex and Sam, on a quest to save the world.

We pick up where book one left off—Alex now aware of his true heritage—and both he and Sam facing a dawning awareness of the scope of the foe they’re up against. And our authors build on everything they established in the first book, as well as introduce a chilling new threat from history—one that brings an element of the supernatural to this otherwise very science-fiction focused thriller. I love when an author has fun with the plot when it comes to action thrillers, and it’s clear this was a collaboration that believes in entertainment alongside their high-tech high stakes.

The threats expand along with the stakes, and it’s not just invaders from alternate worlds that we’ll have to watch out for. As our heroes give their all in the name of keeping our Earth safe, other forces are at play much closer to home, and they’ll have to fight a battle on more than one front to make sure everyone makes it to the end of the book.

Blood Moon is a very entertaining read, one that kept me thoroughly entertained as the plot spooled along, taking our heroes across the globe to face a variety of challenges. There’s a touch of romance – they’re teens, after all – but it’s only a touch, and it is deployed well to ease the throttle back just when needed. And though it absolutely leaves room for the next entry in the series, it’s a self-contained novel, something I always appreciate. A very satisfying entry in a series that just keeps getting better.