Waiting on Wednesday: Vesper by Jeff Sampson

We have four months to wait for Jeff Sampson’s Vesper: A Deviants Novel to hit shelves in January 2011, but we want to talk about it now. The synopsis makes us imagine a modern-day Jekyll and Hyde en masse…with teenagers. If we’re right, it could be pretty amazing. Also, we’re certainly not going to be knocking the cover.

Read the cover copy and see why we’re drawn to Vesper:

Emily Webb is a geek. And she’s happy that way. Content hiding under hoodies and curling up to watch old horror flicks, she’s never been the kind of girl who sneaks out for midnight parties. And she’s definitely not the kind of girl who starts fights or flirts with other girls’ boyfriends. Until one night Emily finds herself doing exactly that . . . the same night one of her classmates—also named Emily—is found mysteriously murdered.

The thing is, Emily doesn’t know why she’s doing any of this. By day, she’s the same old boring Emily, but by night, she turns into a thrill seeker. With every nightfall, Emily gets wilder until it’s no longer just her personality that changes. Her body can do things it never could before: Emily is now strong, fast, and utterly fearless. And soon Emily realizes that she’s not just coming out of her shell . . . there’s something much bigger going on. Is she bewitched by the soul of the other, murdered Emily? Or is Emily Webb becoming something else entirely—something not human?

As Emily hunts for answers, she finds out that she’s not the only one this is happening to—some of her classmates are changing as well. Who is turning these teens into monsters—and how many people will they kill to get what they want?

Get more on Jeff Sampson and his novels on his website. You can also pre-order Vesper from The Book Depository.