Vicious

There are ordinary people and then there are people who are ExtraOrdinary.

Eli and Victor are college roommates–brilliant, lonely guys–who are working on their senior thesis’s. Eli’s thesis focuses on people called EO’s–or ExtraOrdinary–people who have experienced near-death experiences and have come back from the dead.

These near-death experiences are what soon drive Eli and Victor. As each tries to kill themselves, then have the other guy bring them back, they try to become EO’s.

This quest to become ExtraOrdinary ultimately changes Victor and Eli. Both come back from their deaths changed: Eli can heal himself at will, while Victor can inflict and take away pain.

When a young girl named Sydney Clark enters Victor’s life, he sets out on his quest to get revenge on Eli–the man who sent him to prison.

Vicious lives up to its name, with grisly death scenes, and moments of cold psychopathy. As each man tries to get closer to the other, the stakes get higher, with Sydney and her sister Serena being pulled into the men’s paths.

Characters

Eli is something of a psychopath. He can kill people without feeling remorse. He’s smart, too, which makes him more dangerous. He’s hellbent on getting back at Victor, whom he believes is unnatural and goes against God.

Victor likes to black out his parents self-help books, feeling that the destruction of their work helps calm him. He takes pride in his intelligence, as well as his ability to manipulate others by taking away or giving people pain.

Sydney is a girl who has escaped death twice. Once when she drowned–and came back–on her birthday. Then, she survived being shot at by Eli. Sydney’s gift is bringing people back from the dead.

Mike is a guy who got out of prison due to his hacking skills, as well as his intimidating build. He likes drinking chocolate milk.

Serena works with Eli, especially after he tries (and fails) to kill her. Since her ability is compelling people to believe what she wants them to believe, she helps form Eli’s connection with the police.

World building

The world that these characters live in is very similar to our own, except for the fact that people can come back from the dead. The name of the college where Victor and Eli attend university, for example, isn’t like anything I’ve heard of before. The names sound unique, like they are from a parallel universe, an Earth slightly different from our own.

Take Away

If you like books with a grisly feel that will leave you a little shocked at times, this book is for you. While the novel isn’t like the TV show Castlevania, which refuses to shy away from violence and gore, it still lives up to its name. There’s plenty of death, plenty of blood, and lots of revenge going on to keep you flicking through the pages.

I’m eager to get my hands on the sequel, Vengeance.