Book:  Infinity (Chronicles Of Nick #1)
Author:  Sherrilyn Kenyon
Published:  May 25, 2010 from St.Martin’s Griffin
My edition/number of pages:  HC/464

Age group:  Young adult
Source:  Bookstore
Series?:  Yes.  First book.

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.

As if starting high school isn’t hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

Sherrilyn Kenyon is a master storyteller and I knew that before reading Infinity because I have read some of her adult books.  I was skeptical that her skill would transfer well to YA books but I was proven wrong.  Infinity is a promising start to a new paranormal series.

Nick Gautier is your run of the mill kid from the wrong side of the tracks.  He is picked on about everything, from his clothes to his stripper mother.  All that changes the day he is almost killed by some guys he thought were his friends.  Kyrian Hunter steps in to save him and his life is irrevocably changed.  When zombies start attacking, he realizes how big the changes actually are.  Especially because the zombies aren’t dead, they’re his classmates.  With the help of his new friends Nick must find the cure for the spreading zombie disease before it’s too late.  The only problem is that there are other things out there who want to prevent this and they have a lot more power than Nick.

You would think a book about a crazy zombie apocalypse wouldn’t be funny but it was.  In fact, it was hilarious.  The characters in the book changed everything about it.  The subject may have been gruesome but the characters never lost their spunk.  Nick was the biggest smart-ass that I have ever read about.  It was so funny.  He mouthed off to everyone but it was almost like he just couldn’t help himself.  Then there were his few friends.  Bubba and Mark were crazy.  They may have both been brilliant but they acted like idiots.  Bubba owned a computer repair store but he mainly spent his time hunting preternatural creatures.  Mark was his partner in crime and he was just as kooky.  The mood in the book was already pretty light with Nick’s attitude but they made it even better.  There were a ton of other great characters but those were my favorites.

The plot never dragged.  Even at the very beginning of the book there was tons of action.  I normally have trouble getting into books but not with Infinity.  A lot happened in the book but it was never too much.  While it was a long book it didn’t take long to read.  The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger and I know there is much more to come in the next book.  I absolutely cannot wait.

Overall, Infinity is a unique new paranormal series that I can’t wait to read more of.  Nick and his cast of misfit friends are just the kind of people that I would love to hang out with.  If you love zombies and some other crazy creatures check this one out!

First line:  Free will.  Some have called it the greatest gift bestowed on humanity.

Writing:  5

Characters:  5

Plot:  5

Ending:  4

Originality:  5

Overall:  24=A

Cover:  4=B-