ARC Review: Seven Kinds of Hell by Dana Cameron

Seven Kinds of Hell
Author: Dana Cameron
Publication: 47North (March 12, 2013)

Description: Archaeologist Zoe Miller has been running from a haunting secret her whole life. But when her cousin is abducted by a vicious Russian kidnapper, Zoe is left with only one option: to reveal herself.

Unknown to even her closest friends, Zoe is not entirely human. She’s a werewolf and a daughter of the “Fangborn,” a secretive race of werewolves, vampires, and oracles embroiled in an ancient war against evil.

To rescue her cousin, Zoe will be forced to renew family ties and pit her own supernatural abilities against the dark and nefarious foe. The hunt brings Zoe to the edge of her limits, and with the fate of humanity and the Fangborn in the balance, life will be decided by an artifact of world-ending power.

My Thoughts: Zoe Miller has spent her life on the run with her mother. She has also hidden a secret from her mother. Since she was sixteen, she has had to control her anger or unleash a Beast. Now that her mother has died of brain cancer, the family that they spent their life running from is catching up. 

All of a sudden Zoe learns that she is fangborn—a born werewolf. To add even more complications, there are rival families of fangborn who are arguing about coming out to humans and who each want Zoe on their side of the argument. Zoe is an archaeologist who picked up an inconspicuous artifact from a dusty, long hidden box in the museum basement because it called to her. She didn't know that it would lead to the kidnapping of her cousin and a world-wide hunt to rescue him, discover Pandora's box, and reunite her with a long-lost love. 

Along the way Zoe learns more about being a fangborn and learns that she is more unusual than she or the other fangborn could have imagined. I liked the adventure. I liked Zoe because she wasn't a superhero but was a young woman trying to do her best for the only family she had left. I liked the romance that was rekindled with Will.

I thought the plot was quite complex with all the various groups who were after Zoe. Between a secret fangborn US senator who is willing to manipulate anyone to bring about his version of the future and a human Russian mobster who things gathering the same artifacts Zoe is searching for will make him fangborn and various fangborn of different families, Zoe has her hands full. 

The ending demands a sequel. I can't wait to read it!

Favorite Quote:

Every kid dreams they have a secret family, I thought as I trudged across the wet gravel pathways. It was just my shitty luck that I actually has a secret family full of threatening, dickhead monsters. 

I got this eARC from Amazon. You can buy your copy here.