Quick-moving 'Short Second Life of Bree Tanner' seems like a marketing ploy

"THE SHORT SECOND LIFE OF BREE TANNER," by Stephenie Meyer, Little, Brown and Co., 178 pages, $13.99 (young adult)

Stephenie Meyer and her vampires are back again, only this time Bella and her beloved Edward play a supporting role. And, to mix things up, it's a vampire that's in the driver's seat.

In "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner," Meyer, a BYU alumna, tells the story of Bree Tanner, a young vampire that Carlisle, Edward's "father," tries to save following the massive battle at the end of "Eclipse," the third of four books in the Twilight saga.

Bree is a 15-year-old living on the streets when she meets Riley, the most beautiful, and dangerous, man she's ever crossed paths with. Riley offers the starving runaway a burger, but gives her much more, bringing her into his vampire coven in Seattle.

Living with a coven of newborn vampires is dangerous — losing a limb is not that uncommon, but at least that can be sewn back on if you can get it back before someone burns it.

Bree's main goal in her second life is to stay alive, and she does that by flying under the radar. That changes, however, when Bree meets Diego, another young vampire who shares Bree's curiosity in their creator, whom they only know as "her."

As they spend more time together, Bree and Diego learn there's more going on than they imagined. The two are just small pieces of a puzzle that they have no control over. And it's unlikely things will end well.

Anyone who's read "Eclipse" knows how this story ends, and it's not pretty. The battle between Team Cullen/werewolves and the newborn vampires ends with Victoria (her), Riley and the rest of the Seattle vampires dead. All dead, that is, except Bree, whom Carlisle would like to give the option of becoming a "vegetarian" vampire.

It seems that Bree has a chance at a new, third life, until the Volturi arrive and put a quick end to Carlisle's offer. There's little the Cullens can do to save Bree, and in the end all she can do is close her eyes and not watch as the Volturi bring her short second life to a violent end.

"The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" is classic Meyer, although at 178 pages, it's quite a bit shorter than her other books.