Mortal Passions

A campus novel with teeth: a dark love story between a graduate student at a prestigious but failing university, and the crisis manager hired by the college--who happens to be a centuries-old vampire set on draining the institution of its lifeblood. Laura Wyck is struggling through an English PhD when her university announces drastic plans for budget cuts. Everything she loves is imperiled: the library may be sold to the highest bidder and the English department could lose half its staff. Worst of all, when Laura and her fellow graduate students take a stand, she’s confronted by the architect of the restructuring: a rakish consultant named Eli, as morally compromised as they are appallingly attractive. Eli sets Laura’s teeth on edge—but they’re smooth, seductive, even irresistible. It’s hard to remember her principles when they take her to the opera, to the dimly lit bars and luxurious hotels she’s always dreamed of. Meanwhile, budget cuts take a backseat to bloodier threats on campus: one of Laura’s peers goes missing, and an advisor is fatally attacked. Even as the suspicious deaths rack up, Laura is swept into a love affair that promises the beauty of an easier, better life. As the university stands on the brink of collapse, Laura is forced to confront the truth—and the cost—of her romance with Eli. Now she must choose: eternal life and infinite devotion, or the future of the place she loves best. Avery Curran's thrilling, insightful sophomore novel captures the magic of falling desperately in love while interrogating the question of what truly makes someone human.