Strange Angels by Lili St.Crow

I was incredibly anxious to read this so I was thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to receive an ARC in the mail. The author Lili St. Crow writes paranormal fiction for adults under the name Lilith Saintcrow. This is her first foray into the YA world and she does not disappoint.

This is the story of Dru. Dru has a gift; her grandmother said she was touched. She can sense things, the things that go bump in the night. Her hunter father, follows Dru's sixth sense to track down dangerous creatures like zombies, werewulfen and suckers to name just a few.

When we first meet Dru, she and her father have just moved to a small town in the Dakotas where her father is on the hunt once again. She's just trying to blend in at school and she's not looking to make friends, but goth kid Graves didn't get that memo. When tragedy strikes, Dru and Graves are thrown together in a race just to survive. All of a sudden, the things that go bump in the night are knocking on Dru's door and she's coming up with more questions than answers.

Enter the mysterious Christophe who says he has all the answers she seeks. But can she trust him; is he even human?

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It reminded me of everything I love about Supernatural with an amazingly kick ass female for a main character. The relationship between Dru and Graves is portrayed wonderfully. You get the sense that these are two lost kids who are thrown together and are just trying to make it through alive. The setting really adds to the story as well. The story takes place during winter in the Dakotas. The blizzards that take place in the book become like another character in the story. It gives the book a very creepy, claustrophobic feel, which only adds to the tension.

St. Crow has taken familiar paranormal creatures and put a new spin on them. With the amount of paranormal fiction in the YA world today, it's always nice to see a fresh perspective on these classic creatures. There is so much room to grow with this series and I can't wait to see where she takes these characters next. On the back of my ARC it says "Look for the next Strange Angels novel coming Spring 2010." 2010?! How am I going to wait that long? I'll wait though, and I'll be there to buy book 2 when it arrives on shelves.

Highly recommended!!