Maladaptive Bind

by Sarah E. Seeley

Angela Thornley doesn’t know why she’s still alive. When park rangers found her, she couldn’t speak or move, let alone remember what the serial killer, “The Man,” did to her and her husband before he buried them alive. At least, not until she hears the social workers talk about putting her five-year-old son, Blake, in a foster home and she feels his little fingers slip from her hand.

Determined to function so she can protect and care for her son, Angela works hard to unlock and heal the dark memories of her kidnapping buried deep in her subconscious. But her journey leads to unsettling discoveries about the darkness she harbors in her own soul. Due to an unknown combination of genetic and traumatic triggers, Angela is beginning a rapid, painful transformation. The anger that kept Angela alive is also driving her to dangerous thoughts of retribution on the man that killed her husband and broke her spirit.

Soon, Angela begins attacking innocent victims she believes are “The Man.” As she struggles to cope with her transformation, she must determine how far she is willing to go to protect her son and avenge her wounded psyche before she becomes the very sort of monster that bit her.

80 pages, ebook

First published October 15, 2012

About the author

Sarah E. Seeley is an active member of the Horror Writers Association, a mad scientist, a rusty cellist, a world traveler, and a cat lover. She has a Master of Science in Palaeoanthropology and Palaeolithic Archaeology from the University College London, and enjoys studying dead things to figure out what makes life on Earth so amazing. On delightfully stormy, curious, and adventurous days, she sometimes writes things that other people like to read.

Reviews

[Kat Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I picked up Maladaptive Bind, I was thoroughly intrigued with the premise. Angela Thornley lived to tell the secrets of a serial killer, known as “The Man.” The problem? When park rangers found her, she couldn’t speak or move, let alone remember what the serial killer did to her and her husband before he buried them alive. Only through the saving grace of her surviving five-year-old son, Blake, does she force herself to come back from the brink of catatonia.

Determined to function so she can protect and care for her son, Angela works hard to “remember” her kidnapping. But her journey down memory lane leads to her “unsettling discoveries about the darkness she harbors in her own soul.” Due to an unknown combination of genetic and traumatic triggers sparked by the kidnapping, Angela is beginning a rapid, painful, and dangerous transformation into….wait for it….a vampire. Or at least what constitutes a vampire in author Sarah E. Seeley’s world. This isn’t your romantic, clichéd Twilight vampire, nor is it your common horror vampire. Seeley’s vampire is a product of science and biology, similar to the catching of the flu, although a vampire flu is much more dangerous – to the body and mind.

The anger that keeps Angela alive is also the driving force behind her thoughts of retribution on “The Man” who killed her husband and broke her spirit. As Angela painfully and heartbreakingly transforms into a vampire, she begins attacking innocent victims, hallucinating that they are “The Man.” Only after she attacks and kills them does she realize her error. She and Blake flee into hiding as she bows under the brutal onslaught of the transformation, grief, fear, and sadness. As Angela struggles to cope with her transformation, she must decide how far she is willing to go to protect her son and avenge her wounded psyche before she becomes the very sort of monster that bit her.

I fell in love with her son Blake. He is an angel, a beacon of hope and light, in Angela’s dark world. He bears witness to these attacks and is afraid that his mommy is turning into a bad person. But he never gives up on her. At one point, he even deliberately cuts himself with broken glass in the hopes that Angela will take him to the hospital, and while there, get help for herself. He knows she needs help and, for a five-year-old, is wise in his understanding and fear of Angela’s condition. Deep down, he knows she is a good person and doesn’t mean to kill people.

There is a steely strength in Angela that I admire. She is willing to do whatever she has to do to care for and protect her son, although at times she’s a bit misguided in her efforts. Killing people isn’t exactly helping her son, but it’s the havoc the transformation has on her. In the beginning, as she talks with her therapist, her therapist asks her to rate on a scale of one to 10 her level of being able to care for Blake. She states a seven. Then a 10. And she continues to rate herself, muttering a number under her breath, throughout the story as different events happen. It’s a reminder of how humanly vulnerable Angela is and her struggle to remain able to care for her son.

Seeley is brilliant with this novel. I loved the fact that it wasn’t another goopy, googly-eyed love story with vampires and silly girls. Instead, this one has grit and determination with a dose of science in it. And the main character, Angela, who is transforming into a vampire, is a woman instead of a man for a change.The language is sparse. The effect is searing. It is as though I am Angela and suffering just as she is suffering. It’s incredibly easy to identify with her and I found myself passionately rooting for her.

Until I got the ending. Then it all fell apart. I was crushed. A book of this caliber and difference and the ending was a messy, confusing, abrupt, screeching halt to the story. I sat stunned, then frantically started searching the book to see if I missed something. Nope. That was it. How could she end it like that? Granted, it’s a novella, but it could have been so much more! There is no resolution, no defeating “The Man,” no overcoming her circumstances or embracing her “new life.” Nothing but a meeting with “The Man,” and a repulsive embrace. I loved the book, but the ending ruined it for me. Hopefully Seeley tackles the novella again and expands it into a full length novel. I would definitely read it!

I rated it a B- at Kat's Book Reviews.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the sort of story I wish more paranormal stories were like. The characters feel real and it explores a lot of the issues of what they are in a very interesting way. I loved the intensity of the story in both action and emotion.

[Bethany Hanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book! I wrote a little review about it on my blog. Feel free to check it out if you want to!
http://huggermuggersanon.blogspot.com...