Reformed con artist Ciara Griffin doesn't know what to
expect when she's recruited for an internship with local
radio station WMMP. Ciara doesn't know why the station chose
her, but she's interested in the opportunity to combine her
love of music and her interest in business. Ciara has vowed
to give up the grift, and making an honest living over the
summer seems like a logical first step. Yet when Ciara meets
the DJs from the station, she can tell that something's a
little off about them. They're all dressed strangely, and
use dated slang that seems anachronistic for hip,
finger-on-the-pulse DJs. But when she's given some required
reading before starting her position, Ciara begins to
realize what's happening. These people actually believe that
they're vampires, and that they're frozen in the time that
they were made. So Monroe, an African American who died in
the 40s, refuses to meet Ciara because when he was turned a
black man could be lynched for being in the same room as a
white woman. And Shane, a grunge era devotee who was turned
in the mid-90's, is still heavily influenced by Nirvana and
remains slightly depressed as was typical back then.
Initially, Ciara reacts with skepticism and disbelief. After
all, this is a girl who was raised on scams, so she knows
one when she sees it. But when Shane bites her during their
first date, and she captures a glimpse of fang, her first
instinct is to cut and run, causing her to decline the
position, and keep far far away from the vampires.
Eventually, she's convinced to come back and help the
station develop a marketing plan to combat a takeover by
media conglomerate Skywave. Skywave just wants to turn WMMP
into another cookie-cutter station that plays the same music
all the time, and would put the vampires out of a job and at
risk. So Ciara develops a plan to help the gang keep their
night jobs, though there is some risk involved. See Ciara's
plan means outing the vampires for what they really are. She
has a new vision for the station. WVMP, the Lifeblood of
Rock n' Roll. But there are some vampires who want their
identities to remain a secret.
The first thing you'll notice about WICKED GAME is that it
comes with a playlist that characterizes the music choices
of all the DJs at the station. From Shane's favorite band
Nirvana to some John Lee Hooker for Monroe, this soundtrack
is varied and interesting. I just wish I'd felt the same way
about the book itself. I thought WICKED GAME was
entertaining, but the story lagged continually and it was
hard to keep myself motivated that things would eventually
pick up. Ciara was a sympathetic heroine because, while she
did aggravating things and made stupid mistakes, she always
owned up to them and acknowledged the fact that she had done
something irrational. This made her very easy to like. And
Shane was a sweet guy for a hero—but maybe a little too
sweet. It seemed to me that he let Ciara walk all over him,
and I didn't respect him for it. In WICKED GAME it's Ciara
who ran the show, and Shane was just along for the ride. As
for the action with the takeover and marketing campaign to
prevent it, I felt the pacing was uneven, which made it
difficult to want to keep reading. As a whole, I liked this
book, but I didn't love it. However, I would definitely pick
up another of Smith-Ready's future efforts and just hope
that it was more polished than this one.
Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin is trying to live the
straight life, even if it means finding a (shudder!) real
job. She takes an internship at a local radio station, whose
late-night time-warp format features 1940s blues, 60s
psychedelia, 80s Goth, and more, all with an uncannily
authentic flair. Ciara soon discovers how the DJs maintain
their cred: they're vampires, stuck forever in the eras in
which they were turned.
Ciara's first instinct, as always, is to cut and run. But
communications giant Skywave wants to buy WMMP and turn it
into just another hit-playing clone. Without the
station--and the link it provides to their original Life
Times--the vampires would "fade," becoming little more than
mindless ghosts of the past. Suddenly a routine corporate
takeover becomes a matter of life and un-death.
To boost ratings and save the lives of her strange new
friends, Ciara re-brands the station as "WVMP, the Lifeblood
of Rock 'n' Roll." In the ultimate con, she hides the DJs'
vampire nature in plain sight, disguising the bloody truth
as a marketing gimmick. WVMP becomes the hottest thing
around--next to Ciara's complicated affair with grunge vamp
Shane McAllister. But the "gimmick" enrages a posse of
ancient and powerful vampires who aren't so eager to be
brought into the light. Soon the stakes are higher--and the
perils graver--than any con game Ciara's ever played....
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