Becoming Darkness

by Lindsay Francis Brambles

Overview

Like everyone else living in Haven, seventeen-year-old Sophie Harkness is an Immune - a carrier of the genetic mutation that protects her from the virus Hitler unleashed upon the world more than half a century ago. A virus that wiped out most of humanity and turned two-hundred million people into vamps. But after her best friend is brutally murdered and several attempts are made on her own life, Sophie becomes determined to find answers to what seems to be a conspiracy running generations deep. And when she questions the peace treaty that keeps her small community protected, Sophie begins to discover terrible truths about herself and what it means to be human in a world ruled by darkness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630790370
Publisher:	Capstone Press
Publication date:	10/01/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Lindsay Brambles was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1959 and spent a large part of his childhood and youth living and traveling overseas in countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Kenya, and Tanzania. Although he occasionally attended traditional schools, most of his education was gained through correspondence courses and the life experience of living amidst other cultures. As a child in Iran, Lindsay produced a weekly newspaper, which kindled what would become a lifelong interest in writing. In 1989, he won first prize in the Pine Cone II Science Fiction Convention writing contest for his novella Zero-Option. He has worked in a variety of fields, from construction to childcare while pursuing a vocation as an artist and writer. Lindsay is currently hard at work on several new projects, including the next book in the Becoming Darkness trilogy.

Editorial Reviews

08/17/2015
In this ambitious but muddled trilogy opener, first-time author Brambles postulates a world in which WWII ended when the Nazis unleashed a virus that wiped out much of humanity, transforming the survivors into vampires, except for those who now live on the tiny island nation of Haven, refuge of the Immune. Nearly 60 years later, 17-year-old Sophie Harkness is a Haven native who gets swept up in a deadly conspiracy when her best friend is murdered. In her obsessive quest for the truth about Camille’s death, Sophie uncovers devastating secrets behind her family’s complicated legacy and the delicate peace that exists between Haven and the vampires. The idea of Nazi vampires in a crumbling post-apocalyptic setting, combined with the illicit paranormal romance between Sophie and her vampire beloved (who previously courted her grandmother and mother, no less), sounds great on paper, but fails to reach its true potential. The plot takes a long time to reach obvious conclusions, and Sophie, while resourceful, is more of a lightning rod for disaster than a full-fledged protagonist. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

In Becoming Darkness, Sophie Harkness is dissatisfied with her life in Haven, an island refuge community for the Immunes, who are the only humans left after Hitler unleashed a plague that caused global vampirism during World War II. Dreading the prospect of a young marriage as required by Haven's government, Sophie has finally told her best friend, Camille, about her secret and semi-forbidden relationship with a vampire named Valentine, who seems to have some connection to Sophie's grandmother and deceased mother as well. When Camille and others close to Sophie begin dying, Val will nott reveal what he knows, so Sophie travels to New York City, one of the last remaining American cities and the heart of the Third Reich, to try to unravel the mystery. Unfortunately, it is impossible not to compare this debut novel to the Twilight saga when the parallels stack up so quickly: a gorgeous, brooding vampire in love with the heroine's particular, intoxicating scent; long-winded, cryptic conversations in which almost nothing is said; the absent mother and ineffectual, law-enforcement father; and the eventual reveal of "impossible" half-breed children. The writing is also clunky ("staring at him dazedly") and self-conscious, such as the references to an "alternate history" book describing our world, with such unlikely inventions as cell phones and "texting (whatever that meant)." That said, this book, the first in a trilogy, will likely be of significant interest to teen girls looking for another vampire fix. Reviewer: Amy Sisson; Ages 15 to 18.

VOYA, February 2016 (Vol. 38, No. 6) - Amy Sisson

07/01/2015
Gr 8 Up—An elaborate vampire saga that includes an alternate end to World War II in which Nazi experiments in germ warfare spin out of control. As a result, Gomorrah—an airborne virus that turns nearly all of humanity into "vamps"—was released. Hitler has survived. The entire world is under the shadow of the Third Reich, and electric cars, zeppelins, and wire recorders are state-of-the art technology. In this upside-down world, one island, Haven, allows humans to carry on. A truce between the immune humans (whose blood is fatal to vamps) and the Third Reich allows the groups to exist in their separate domains. Enter Sophie, who is secretly dating a vampire. Her beau appears to be in his late teens, until it is revealed that he has previously dated Sophie's mother and grandmother. The pacing of the novel accelerates and morphs into a mystery as one deception after another is unveiled. This work is overly ambitious. The story is well conceived, but the twists and turns in the plot come too quickly, leaving characters and relationships underdeveloped. Still, die-hard vampire fans will find much to be excited about. This weighty tome reads quickly and offers a new spin on the whole genre. Whispers of a second generation leave the door to a sequel wide open. VERDICT A definite addition for young vampire fans thirsting for fresh meat.—Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL

School Library Journal

2015-06-23
Dark secrets abound in the last human enclave two generations after the Nazis created vampirism and took over the world. Sophie lives in Haven, the Pacific island nation where humanity retreated after the truce with the undead Third Reich (if there were prior residents, they're invisible in mostly occidental Haven). Sophie adores her secret vampire boyfriend, Val, to whom she smells "intoxicating." Val hides secrets of his own: as a human, he was engaged to Sophie's grandmother; later, he had a fling with Sophie's mother. More important than Val's incestuous affections is his knowledge of who is murdering everyone Sophie loves. He won't tell her, so Sophie's willing to investigate even into the Third Reich, if she must. Bramble's New York—Gestapo-controlled, vampire-overrun—shows no sign of the evils to be expected of even a human Führer, aside from one appallingly unconcerned mention that nearly all Jews have been murdered. This book's moral compass is seriously skewed. As Sophie adventures with cinematic intensity, she knows she's unlike the prejudiced Havenites, for she comprehends morality in shades of gray. Why, this sophisticated miss understands that human misdeeds in the fight for survival against total annihilation are comparable to the horrors of Auschwitz, an equation drawn with a straight narrative face. A world ruled by Hitler ought to evoke at least a smidgen of horror, but this overstuffed slog overwhelms the horrifyingly real vileness of Nazism with vampiric banalities. (Science fiction. 13-15)

Kirkus Reviews