Shutter

Debut author Courtney Alameda's Shutter is the first book of the series of the same name.

Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat- a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum.  As one the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual: the corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens.  With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film.  She's aided by her crew: Oliver, a techno-whiz and the boy who developed her camera's technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever.

When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as  a soulchain.  As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that if she doesn't exorcise the entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die.  Now pursued as renegade agent  by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she's faced before... or die trying.

Lock, stock, and lens, she's in for one hell of a week.

The Breakdown:
1. With Shutter, Alameda is expending the legend of those who fought against Dracula down through the generations.  Micheline, Oliver Stoker, and Jude are direct descendants of those who originally brought down Dracula.  Alameda creates an interesting world where they live, monsters are abundant and the Helsing corps are America's best defensive against them.

2.  With Micheline's family recent tragedy and what she faces now, there is definitely a darker undertone to this book than most of the books I read.  That being said, it has a great horror vibe to it, and was perfect reading for Halloween.  There is some great dynamic between Micheline and her boys.  From the strong friendships between them, and the love between her and Ryder, I really liked their interactions.

3.  I have to say that the character that I hated the most was not the ghost behind Micheline's curse, but rather her father.  He is unkind, and downright abusive at times. He blames her for things that happened in the past, and obviously does not understand she is just as broken from their family tragedy was he is.

4.  The ghost, and the past issues, make it obviously that something is out to get the Helsing family.  There is definitely a bigger conspiracy going on behind the story, and Alameda's ending left it open to finding out more behind it.  It will be interesting to see where she chooses to take the story.

To Read or Not to Read:
Read