Book Review: Tandem by Tracey Bateman

tan·dem [tan-duhm]

–adverb

1.one following or behind the other: to drive horses tandem.

–adjective

2.having animals, seats, parts, etc., arranged tandem or one behind another.

–noun

3.a vehicle, as a truck, tractor, or trailer, in which a pair or pairs of axles are arranged in tandem.

4.tandem bicycle.

5.tandem trailer ( def. 1 ) .

6.a team of horses harnessed one behind the other.

7.a two-wheeled carriage with a high driver's seat, drawn by two or more horses so harnessed.

8.any of various mechanisms having a tandem arrangement.
 

—Idiom

9.in tandem,
a.in single file: They swam in tandem.
b.in association or partnership.

After pulling up the definition of the word tandem and realizing that it didn't mean exactly what I thought it meant, I have no clue what the title has to do with the book.  That said, the book was an easy, fun, read.  It's got vampires, romance and even a little religion.  The last bit I found to be a bit disconcerting.

Lauryn runs a Real Estate and Antiques appraisal and auction business that she took over from her father.  While researching items in house that she is auctioning she came across some old letters and forwarded them to Amede, who she believed to be a descendant of the the author of the letters, which were written around the Civil War and into the 1800s.

Amede is a vampire and the author of the letters.  Having the letters returned to her, Amede believes that her sister (to whom she wrote the letters) may still be alive in the small town of Abbey Hill.

The book alternates between telling the stories of these two women, at the same time telling the story of Amede's sister, Eden.  In addition to dealing with the appraisal of the Chisom house and it's contents, without the aid of her father, Lauryn is now the care-taker for her father, who is suffering from Alzheimers.  In the midst of all of this, her first love returns to her life.  Billy has returned to take over the town church from his father, after having spent the last several years away on Mission work.  Lauryn is also dealing with the seeming interest of her friend (and town Deputy) Charley, who has recently broken off with his long-time girlfriend.

Amede, upon the receipt of the letters, decides to make a trip to Abbey Hills.  She hopes she will find her sister there, or at least some clue to where she may have moved on to.  When she arrives, however, she discovers that her sister is believed to have died in a house fire the year before.  A house fire that followed several strange deaths in Abbey Hills.  The house fire that also killed Markus Chisom (the man whose estate Lauryn is now working with).  As Amede remains in town through Thanksgiving, the town sees a recurrence of strange murders, mimicking the murders they saw the year before.  Amede quickly becomes a suspect.

As the author shares with you the back stories of Lauryn, Amede & Eden, you gain some clues as to what may really be going on.  Through these clues you should be able to figure out what is truely going on (I did), however there were some mysteries that even I didn't figure out before they were shown to me.  For that I was thankful.

As I said, the somewhat religious overtones of the book felt a bit strange and to some degree off-putting to me on several different levels.  Had the book not been about vampires it might not have felt so strange.  The religious/ Christianity aspects were not so strong that I felt I was being beat over the head, they just felt out of place a bit in a book about vampires; as if these two things did not belong together.  The book even ended on a religious note, as if the author was trying to make sure you knew that this was a Christian book.  It just felt contrived, as if trying to fit something in that just didn't belong. 

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---I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review