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| View Larger Image | Second Sunrise: A Lee Nez Novel
by Aimee Thurlo, David Thurlo
| | List Price: | $24.95 |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 890078 | | Studio: | Forge Books | | | Binding: | Hardcover | | Number Of Pages: | 336 | | Publication Date: | November 01, 2002 | | Publisher: | Forge Books |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Sixty years ago New Mexico patrolman Lee Nez and his partner foiled the hijacking of an American military convoy transporting nuclear material. At the end of the firefight, all of the soldiers and Lee's partner were dead-and Lee's life was forever transformed.
Now a nightwalker, the Navajo equivalent of a vampire, Lee lives with one foot in the human world and one in a world full of monsters. In 2002, Lee Nez is a cop again, now known as Leonard Hawk. His more-than-human abilities have made him the target of murderous Navajo witches-skinwalkers-who want his powers for themselves. When cool, capable FBI agent Diane Lopez questions Lee about an incident on the Navajo Reservation, Lee can't tell her than the people he killed that night were skinwalkers out for his blood. Lee and Diane are attacked by a wolf pack. Diane is stunned when the wolf she shoots shapeshifts into a woman before dying. On the run, Lee tells Diane of his true nature-and that he is convinced the vampire who made him one of the undead has returned to New Mexico in the guise of German Air Force pilot Wolfgang Muller. Muller has been much too close to the place where Lee hid the plutonium six decades ago-a trap for the vampire, set with the inhuman patience of a nightwalker.
Using police and FBI resources as well as Navajo healing magics and his own supernatural powers, Lee and Diane hunt for Muller and his undead offspring. Muller was to sell the nuclear material to the highest bidder-what does he care if some humans blow up some other humans, as long as he can find fresh sources of blood? When Muller takes Diane captive, Lee swears he won't lose another partner to the vampire's evil.
Second Sunrise is the first in a series of novels featuring Lee Nez, an undead hero who lives in a world where magic and monsters are all too real. The Thurlos' skill at evoking of Southwestern settings and Navajo philosophies and lifestyles combines with their ability to create strong plots and solid characters in this fast-paced, action-filled story of supernatural suspense. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 9 reviews)
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Second Sunrise: A Lee Nez Novel 
This is the first book in a series of three--so far. Lots of Navajo culture and
beliefs are incorporated into an exciting mystery based in New Mexico. Authors
write in a pleasing manner. You forget about your problems when you become
involved in this great read.
September 01, 2006 | |
Good entry into the genre 
This book introduces us to a Navajo police officer who is turned into a vampire by an evil Nazi. His condition is mitigated by a "medicine man" who dilutes the "virus" that causes vampirism. This vampire detective follows the footsteps of such vampires as Nick Knight, but isn't burdoned with guilt. That is a nice change.
His partner is a strong, competent woman, who is so without being "over the top" and unbelievable.
Personally, this was one of the few books I have recently read that I had trouble putting down. I would recommend it. It had action, adventure, romance.
February 17, 2006 | |
A Good Introduction
I enjoyed reading Second Sunrise. It introduced the characters, who are interesting, and set up the reader for the second book. I look forward to the rest of the books in this series.
June 23, 2005 | |
Fresh Twist on Vampires But Doesn't Cut It 
Second Sunrise is a new serial by the Thurlo team. They have over 30 books to their credit. I am not sure what happened here.
Second Sunrise begins on a dark night in the secluded hills of Fort Wingate, New Mexico, when state patrolman Lee Nez's life is forever altered. Lee and his rookie partner Benny interrupt a military ambush massacre. Benny is murdered and Lee is mortally injured. Lee wakes a new man, a nightwalker, which apparently is the Navajo word for vampire.
The story jumps to sixty years later. Lee continues to search for the nightwalker who transformed him and to fend off the skinwalkers who want the immortal properties of his blood. Skinwalker is a term for Navajo witches able to shapeshift into wolves.
Just when you thought that every vampire story had been told, the Thurlos come out with a fresh twist. Second Sunrise is no Dracula and the Thurlos are no Bram Stoker. I love vampire stories. I didn't like this book, at least not as a whole.
There was much about the story that I enjoyed. The supporting character FBI Agent Diane Lopez is strong, confident and can hold her own despite the gravity of the situations in which she finds herself. The premise of Navajo magic and the ancient history behind it and its people is intriguing and well presented, describing cultural cues like finger pointing and waiting outside to be invited in.
Unfortunately, I found the first chapters slow and tedious. From the jacket cover I already knew someone was going to die and that Lee would become a nightwalker. This section took too long to get to the point. Throughout the novel there was a lot of telling going on. Too much time was spent talking about personality traits instead of showing them through actions. This made it difficult to connect with the lead character positively or negatively, therefore there was no emotional involvement with him, his life or his actions.
Second Sunrise was overly repetitive. Benny's death and the young bride and infant son he leaves behind are mentioned four times in the first 83 pages. Totally unnecessary and irritating. The story isn't so involved that the reader wouldn't remember a driving force such as this. There are many other instances of this kind of repetition.
The language reflected this redundancy, with overused phrases, unnecessarily mundane details, and facts pointed out to the reader evident within the scene. All these details make it seem as though readers have short attention spans.
I believe this could have been an exciting addition to the vampire genre. I just think it was released too soon. So much more could have been done with it. It needs to be tidied up. Perhaps it would have helped to have the point of view in first person. If you want to read a different twist on the vampire story then pick this up but if you want a gripping tale with believable characters you can sympathize with and be moved by, this isn't it.
Review Originally Posted at http://www.linearreflections.com
January 08, 2005 | |
And I Thought It Would Never End! 
This book tumbled out of my hands and hit the floor about the point that the female FBI Agent and the female Vampire began to insult one another about their respective weights. That has to be a new low in vampire fiction. The other times the book fell out of my hands was because I could no longer keep my eyes open as Nez and Lopez have long pointless conversations with the occasional coy romantic comment. I think that the FBI agent who was killed early in the book got off easily compared to those of us who stayed to the end.The authors cannot resist hopping on every new bandwagon that goes by, unfortunately they forget to get off the old bandwagons. Therefore, in this book we have a female FBI agent out to avenge her dead partner, skinwalkers (sort of Navaho Werewolves), German vampires, and a Navaho vampire state cop also out to avenge his dead partner (who was killed in 1945). All of the characters are one dimensional at best. The skinwalkers are inherently evil and hunt vampires for no discernable purpose except the authors needed some action to propel the story to its next stage. The German vampires are equally purposeless except they want to get their hands on a case that might (no one really knows for sure) contain uranium or plutonium or something radioactive-- so much of this book is just two characters who have no facts engaging in fruitless speculation. Let's not forget the writing. There is a lot of telling and not showing with strange moments of exposition that make me think that the authors had suddenly thought of something they should have mentioned earlier, so they jam it into the conversation whether it feels natural-- if any of the conversation in this book seems natural-- or not. I think I should say something positive about the book, though. The dust jacket on the hard cover is rather clever and unusual. Shame it couldn't be on a better book.
March 22, 2004 | |
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