Several friends leave Nevada State University to spend spring break at the Garlic Groove Music Festival in Allium Valley, Oregon. The festival promises to be a great time with indie bands, fewer crowds, and world-famous garlic-infused foods. Alix Summerlin Ford can’t wait to wear her cute outfits and party with her friends, but when things suddenly turn into bloody chaos, Alix realizes she’s in for a vicious game of survival in Rektok Ross’s latest addictive thriller, SPRING HARVEST.

Alix, along with her ex-boyfriend Logan Ward, best friend Zoe Danvers, Zoe’s boyfriend Chad, and sorority sister tag-along Jenny Holloway, arrive at the Allium Valley campgrounds in high spirits. Even though they received an ominous warning at their last rest stop, nothing can deter this group from having a good time. On the first night of the festival, Alix meets a handsome stranger named Kade, who also warns Alix to leave town. All these warnings are bringing the mood down, and the limited amounts of garlic-infused food are also disappointing. Allium Valley is in the middle of a drought, and the garlic harvest is low. On the second night of the festival, a frenzied crowd and a bloody mess cause a mass exit. It’s a chaotic scene, and the friends are separated. When they make it back to their campsite, their RV tires have been slashed, the campsite is deserted, and there’s blood in the dark, muddy fields. Alix soon realizes they should have listened to the warnings, because now the group is in the middle of a battle of survival against bloodthirsty vampires. Who can Alix trust? And will she rise to the occasion and save them all?

SPRING HARVEST is a young adult thriller horror novel reminiscent of The Lost Boys and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It mixes relationship drama, vampires, survival skills, a creepy, isolated rural setting, and plenty of bloody good scares. The vampires are vicious, and the threats are non-stop as Alix and her friends traverse an unknown landscape to evade their attackers. Alix, who starts out as icy and superficial, becomes the heroine who can hold her own and rescue others. She also has two men vying for her affection, which ups the relationship drama, and makes readers wonder which one she can trust to get her out alive. The setup is perfectly unsettling, and the dire circumstances and horror that develop propel the plot at a riveting pace.  From double-crosses, poisonous arrows, an abandoned cattle farm, a genetic predisposition, and lots of blood, SPRING HARVEST will appeal to readers who like to sink their teeth into an addictively good thriller/horror novel.