Dying Light by D. Scott Meek

Book Details
Dying Light by D. Scott Meek
Paperback, 236 Pages
2010, Canonbridge LLC
ISBN: 1935705075

Synopsis
In the near future, a new world order society mercilessly eradicates the last victims of the Blood Virus. "Vampyres", constantly in fear of discovery and persecution, live and walk among humans as ordinary people with an extraordinary reality and a haunting past; a deal to save the last vampyres is struck, but intrigue and betrayal ensure that while the sun will rise tomorrow, no one knows who will live to see it. Dying Light is the first in the new sub-genre of science fiction entitled "post-dystopia". Author Scott Meek deals with the science of stem cell research and blood borne diseases, the future as it might have been, and takes the reader into the realm of a new society.

Review
Reading Dying Light felt like reading a movie in many ways. Many things felt glossed over or missing completely. It seemed as though the reader was either supposed to infer the meaning of many events, or possibly the vague hinting was supposed to entice the reader to continue on. Either way, the lack of pertinent details left me wondering what exactly had happened and what, if anything, it had to do with the the current action. Ultimately, I was left with the feeling that I was wasting my time.

I continually felt a likeness to the movie Underworld, just without the werewolves. Charlotte reminded me so much of Selene that I could picture on one else but Kate Beckinsale. Somehow Michael had betrayed the vampyres (or maybe he didn't - it wasn't exactly clear) and Charlotte is sent to kill him. But *spoiler alert* Michael is Charlotte's husband and she loves him, wanting to save him against her master's wishes. Oh, but he seems to have a minor case of amnesia, so even he isn't sure what's going on.

There is also some political stuff going on, where the ruler of the USA (she isn't the president, but the premier) and the leader of the vampyres (who seems to have been the vice president for a day about 400 years ago) are in negotiations to bring peace among their people. See, the vampyres are persecuted when they really haven't done anything wrong - besides kill humans for food.

There are some flashbacks that don't always specify what characters past we're looking at. There's some current scenes that don't seem to relate to the plot at all. There is a large build up to what will come of the negotiations and then nothing. The book ends in a way that isn't exactly open ended but in it's attempt to be shocking negates any forward momentum the book managed to gain.

Dying light isn't dull by any means. It's got lots of action and the story races quickly to its disappointing conclusion. It's an easy read as long as you aren't looking past the surface for any meaning, answers or sense.

Rating