The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones

Title: The Tear Collector
Author: Patrick Jones
ISBN: 9780802787101
Publisher: Walker and Company

Summary:
"Between hookups, makeups, and breakups, there isn't a day at Lapeer High School without drama turning into trauma turning into tears.

And tears are just as essential as air for Cassandra Gray. She and her family are vampires who thirst for human sorrow, and the energy that they soak in from a good crying jag can keep them fueled up for days.

Anytime a friend needs a shoulder to cry on, Cass is there. Anytime a boyfriend gets too secure, she breaks his heart. Cass's work as a school peer counselor and hospital volunteer also provides the perfect cover and access to her family's energy source. But she is getting tired of all the lies and manipulation - especially no that she's actually fallen in love with a human. Can she bear to betray her family for a chance at happiness and a life lived with joy?"
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First Lines:

"'Are you crying?' I ask as I tap on the driver's side window of the white Chevy Impala. Inside the familiar car, I see the unfamiliar sight of my best friend, Robyn Berry, crying."
Page 2
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Review:

This is another book that was recommended to me by one of my coworkers. Honestly I thought the whole concept was interesting - vampires who live off of energy instead of blood. If nothing else, this concept is what pulled me in. I wanted to see how that would be done.

After reading this book, I've decided that calling them energy vampires doesn't do it justice. There's nothing vampiric about them except that they are taking something from humans to live. The whole vampire thing is very sensual, personal, and a bit barbaric. The "vampires" in this book pose as caring people in order to take something that humans are giving anyway - tears. So I guess I wish there was a different term used other than vampire. It would have fit better, I think.

There was a lot more religion conversations than I was expecting. That was another thing that didn't jive with the vampire picture... the amount of discussion about god and angels and demons and so on. I mean, it did work with the story at some points, but it seemed to crop back up at odd points. Maybe that's just my take on it though.

One thing I didn't like about the main character (Cass) was the way she pulled emotions out of people. It made me have a difficult time trying to like her. I did have moments where I was thinking she was pretty cool and I'd like to know someone like her - other times I just wanted her to leave people alone. Let them deal with their grief the way they need to. I know that was part of her character and all, but it gave me a hard time.

I did think the concept was interesting and I think there are some people who would love all of these aspects of the book. Probably girls because of the main romance aspect of it. I'd say it probably shouldn't be billed as vampire romance but paranormal romance.

I wasn't able to find an actual website for the author, but there are a few places that list his information. Here's one of those.
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