Jeri Smith-Ready

Good week for Wicked Game

Four months before publication (and just in time to be printed in the front of the book itself), Publisher's Weekly gave this review to Wicked Game:

Newbie marketing intern Ciara Griffin lands a job at WMMP, a station threatened with being sold to Skyware, a giant communications conglomerate, unless ad revenue picks up. A former con artist with a canny way with people, Ciara soon learns that the DJs are undead and specialists in the musical eras in which they were turned into vampires. One of them, Shane McAllister (turned in 1995), is really hot and dangerously tempting. In order to attract more listeners, Ciara promotes a new marketing strategy and the Sherwood, Md., station becomes 94.3 WVMP, the “Lifeblood of Rock and Roll,” exploiting the fang factor (which no listener takes seriously) for profit. It works, until an ancient vampire cult wants to pull the plug. Also playing in is “The Control,” an equally ancient paramilitary group created to protect good vampires and kill bad ones.

Smith-Ready's musical references are spot on, as is her take on corporate radio's creeping airwave hegemony. Add in the irrepressible Ciara, who grew up in a family of grifters, and the results rock.

Here's where I become the pointyheaded pseudo-intellectual version of Beavis & Butthead:

Heh. They said, 'hegemony.'

Seriously, I'm beyond thrilled about this review, because it's my first ever in Publisher's Weekly. It means a lot. And, heh, they said 'creeping airwave hegemony.' I'm thinking Bill Moyers might love this book.

The other great news is that my editor, Jennifer Heddle, was just promoted to senior editor at Pocket Books. She absolutely deserves it, though whenever someone younger than I am has the word 'senior' in front of their title, I feel like an underachiever.

In fact, I'm going to put a new sign on my office door:


Come back Friday for a new ARC contest, and soon thereafter to see the final cover! Then we'll figure out how to pass the time for the next four months until the actual book comes out.

I'm sure we'll think of something.

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Now playing: The Killing Lights - A.F.I.
via FoxyTunes

Labels: reviews, vampire series

• posted by Jeri @ 8:28 AM
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