Completed Fic of the Week: 9/5/11

La Morte Nera by AydenMorgen

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7128579/1/La_Morte_Nera

Review by Les16

Rating: M

Genre: Mystery/Supernatural

Characters: Edward & Bella

Summary: La Morte Nera, an incurable virus, is ravaging Edward's world, killing vampires and wolves alike. Now Bella is being hunted by those infected. Is she merely a mortal caught in a world that refuses to let her go or is she the answer Edward seeks? AU/OOC. 

I'll be honest, I'm always a bit nervous when one of my favorite authors branches out and tries something new. I already know what I like. I find my happy place in their writing and when they change that up, well, there is always that chance that I might not like something new and different. Like when you have a favorite restaurant and get the same thing every time then one night, you decide to be adventurous and try something totally unexpected. If that is what you are looking for, look no further than La Morte Nera. We all know Ayden Morgen can write, and write well. Her stories: Empty Panes and Pretty Things, Rapture, When the Bough Breaks, and All Falls Down are all incredible stories of love, loss, anguish ... not to mention some really hot, steamy lemons, too!

La Morte Nera is NOTHING like anything else she's ever written. First and foremost, it's an AU Vamp fic, her first ever. Second, it's action packed ... I'm talking edge of your seat, hold your breath and peek through your fingers while you read action. There's some sizzling hot chemistry that brews between Edward and Bella but if you are looking for lemons, you won't find them here. Believe me, you won't even miss them.

A deadly virus, La Morte Nera, is running rampant, ravaging vampires and wolves alike, annihilating entire covens and packs. Edward Cullen and his brothers Emmett and Jasper are working tirelessly, some would say foolishly, to do all they can to stop the virus before it wipes out everyone and everything they know and love. Armed with homemade weapons – diamond-tipped knives, swords, flame throwers - not to mention Emmett's strength and Jasper's cunning, the three search out and destroy the infected. It's ugly and messy work. It's dangerous, and deadly because if any of the three come in direct contact with the infected, their death sentence is all but signed and delivered.

It's a race against time, trying to wipe out the virus before it infects them all. There's a cure, they just don't know where to find it or who to ask. Every time the brothers have to destroy one of the infected, Edward is able to glean bits and pieces of information. They're searching for someone, someone who has the key to the cure.

And that brings us to Isabella Swan. The wolves are frantically searching for her. Every time she turns around, another one is there, ready to kill her. And every time, Edward and his brothers are there to unknowingly save her.

Besides, she had no idea where to run… or if any more of the insane wolves would find her if she did. For all she knew, they had some built-in Bella finding radar and running wouldn't do any good. It certainly hadn't so far. Three of the things had found her already, hunting her down like she was a rabbit. 

She didn't much like being prey. 

But lucky for her, every time she was sure she wouldn't escape, the same three men would appear out of nowhere to kill the wolves and carry them off. She hung somewhere between gratitude toward them and fear of them. Strange men didn't appear out of nowhere to save the damsel anywhere save in movies. That these three seemed to be making a habit of it made her nervous. 

Once Bella and the Cullens meet, under somewhat less than ideal circumstances, it's obvious immediately that there is a connection between Edward and Bella. It's also obvious that Bella knows a lot more than she lets on at first. She's well-acquainted with the supernatural, her best friends are the Shifters from La Push, and she has firsthand knowledge of how cruel vampires with red eyes can truly be.

Ayden's take on our beloved characters is refreshing. Sure most of the characteristics we know and love are there ... Emmett likes to make people laugh, Jasper has a way of making you feel calm while making you want to spill your deepest, darkest secrets, and Edward broods and has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Bella is clumsy and as skittish as her kitten Zee, but she's so much stronger than she even knows. She's been through hell and back, and now, she has to face the past that destroyed and took all she loved to help try to save those she's just met.

This story will have your heart in your throat as you hope and pray for an outcome you're not sure is even possible. Can Edward and Bella ever be together? Can they find a cure in time before it destroys them all? Is Bella strong enough to face her past? Is Edward strong enough to save her, even if that means he has to save her from himself? Read La Morte Nera and find out. You won't be sorry!