Immortal Dark is a fabulously bloody and intricate reimagining of the vampire myth, wherein an ancient agreement between vampires--or "dranaics"--and humans is all that keeps a massive slaughter of mortals at bay.
Nineteen-year-old Kidan Adane is a murderer. And she'll kill again when she finds the "shadowy vampire" she is convinced kidnapped her twin sister. Kidan is heiress to her parents' legacy, which should include the great House Adane, located on the hidden campus of Uxlay University. But in a baffling twist, Kidan's parents have willed House Adane not to Kidan, but to dranaic Susenyos Sagad, the very vampire Kidan is seeking. Uxlay University, an ancient Black community, exists because of an uneasy peace, the Three Binds, created long ago in Ethiopia between dranaics and humans. Once the alliance was forged, vampires were invited to live alongside humans as companions--as Susenyos had been doing at House Adane. To get to him and break her parents' will so she can inherit, Kidan must live in the estate with Susenyos. Kidan and Susenyos behave brutally--despite their growing and violent attraction--as each plots to make the other leave.
Tigest Girma's ambitious, vividly imagined debut conjures a complex, often messy world in which humans vie for power and vampires fight for control. Her smart writing, which never shies away from violence, features a cutthroat society where life is cheap and heroes rarely pretend to be virtuous. Readers will likely enjoy the intricacies of the mythmaking, and ultimately be left pondering the price of survival in this rewarding and original read, first in a planned trilogy. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author