What Are We Reading Now? - Sins of the Piano Man

Sins of the Piano Man
by solareclipses
Review by: smexy4smarties

Try as I might to memorialize my innocent victims, my efforts were inadequate in the end. They were still dead. The music didn't bring them back from the dirty, makeshift graves I'd given them.

Edward Cullen tried so hard to give to society. He drank the blood of the despicable, the criminals, the perverse. He subjected himself to their thoughts and did a service to mankind as he drained the life from those who didn't deserve souls. So it was fair to say that one night a month, he should get a break—the twelfth night of every month. On this night, he wouldn't seek out the worst, but instead the best, the innocent. He would get his reward. 

At least, that's how he rationalized it to himself.

One girl, a flash of blue eyes and wild wisps of brown hair, changed everything for him. Her thoughts were flighty and sweet and perfect. She would be his. He had her alone, and she was more than willing; she was too distracted to care how obviously inhuman he was. He didn't mind that she was oblivious . . . until her thoughts touched on the cause of her unease. Renée Swan was pregnant. He couldn't kill a child.

But he almost had, and that alone was enough to bring a familiar fact to the forefront of Edward Cullen's mind—he was, without doubt, a monster. And he couldn't do it anymore. He would find some other way.

Twenty-one years later, Isabella Swan is falling apart. She jobless, hopeless, and possibly soon to be parentless. She'd given up the idea of Renée being her parent long ago, but now, Charlie has cancer, and the reality of her being alone in the world is becoming imminent.

Edward's in Seattle hoping to teach another musician how to play a piece he's composed for a past victim. Bella's newly twenty-one and just got fired—alcohol in Seattle with the girls doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Her blood is undeniably tantalizing and her mind is silent to him, but can Edward afford to have another life on his conscience?

Sins of the Piano Man by solareclipses is possibly one of the most poignant AUs currently being written. The author's ability to weave an interesting plotline while still leaving time to dissect the faults and motivations of each character bears the mark of a true storyteller. She doesn't only focus on Edward and Bella, which is refreshing to see; even characters such as Lauren—the stereotypical mean girl in most fan fiction—are depicted as real people, with both flaws and redeeming qualities intact. Everything about solareclipses' writing style draws the reader in.

Edward's not yet sure if he's merely following Bella or hunting her, but she intrigues him to no end. How will he react when he finds that this girl was the catalyst in his quest to be better, that this girl was the reason he began to atone for his sins?