The Apothecary

The world of 2525 is ruled by Vampire Overseers. Food is scarce and love is forbidden. Humans who manage to survive are kept only for hard labor and endure the harshest of punishments for any infraction of the laws. Joanna Wilder has no dreams, save keeping her younger sister and herself alive. That is, until Eva shows up pregnant (a capital offence), her boyfriend starts a rebellion and Joanna is left to endure the consequences.  

Gabriel Stone is an Overseer, but at heart he is a healer and his kind nature rebels against all the dictates his life demands.  His loyalties are stretched to the breaking point, however, when he meets the courageous young woman who fights, in spite of the harrowing circumstances she is in.  But how can a human ever love a Vampire - one whose very life dictates subjugation and control?

Wow! What a dark and brilliantly penned read!  Ms. Simpson deftly creates a world that is so grim and with no hope that the reader can almost smell the hardship and destitution. So much so, that it can be hard to read. The first few chapters are quite confusing, as they abruptly jump from introducing one character to the next with no connection or background. This slowly smooths out as the story unfolds, however, and the connections and world come alive. It is truly the writing that makes this book shine!  The characters are so real they jump off the page. Everything from the morose feel to the landscape and desperation is created with such realism that one falls into Joanna’s life and doesn’t surface again until the author releases the final word.

Ruth Lynn Ritter