With one summer of dragon-slayer camp behind her—plus some on-the-job training—16-year-old Tori Hampton still doesn't feel ready to face the fearsome creatures.  A pity, since her ability reveals terrifying news: baby dragons are hatching.  Which means they'll be full-size, ready to terrorize America, long before the slayers can gain enough skill to control or kill them.  The slayers need more manpower.  Ryker Davis, a 17-year-old in Vermont, fits the bill.  Even though his parents have forbidden him to join the others, Tori knows they have to find Ryker.  The more fighters on the team, the better chance they all have of surviving a dragon invasion.

Meanwhile, Tori's learning more about her own abilities, which include an innate desire to protect the dragons.  How can she help her friends annihilate the creatures if half of her can't stand to see them hurt?  And speaking of hurt, there's her heart to consider.  With a traitor in the team's midst, Tori has to be careful whom she trusts with her life, let alone her heart.  

So, I have to be honest—I opened Friends and Traitors, the second installment in C.J. Hill's Slayers series, knowing I probably wouldn't like it that much.  Not surprisingly, I was right.  I had the same meh reaction to this one that I did to its predecessor, Slayers.  For me, Hill's dragon world just isn't that convincing.  Plus, the plot winds all over the place, too much explanation bogs down the story, and the characters are so flat I can't remember who's who most of the time.  So, yeah.  The books have lots of action, but little else.  For me, at least, that's just not enough.  Although I have to say, I quite liked Angel Moroni's cameo appearance :)

(Readalikes:  Slayers by C.J. Hill)

Grade:

   

for violence, intense situations, and mild sexual innuendos

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find