Thirst
An Energy Vampire Novel
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3.5 • 17 Ratings
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
A hidden society of vampires—and the humans they love—are at the heart of this opening novel in a biting, all-original series from the New York Times bestselling author of the Nightwalkers saga.
Rafe DaSilva is an energy vampire, soaking up nourishment from the sun—and, only when necessary, drawing sweet sustenance from humans who are pure in body and spirit. As the right-hand man to his queen, Rafe is a key player at a historic peace summit in New York City, which will unite the vampire nations against a common threat: the sycophants, who feed on humanity and kill indiscriminately. But Rafe’s fascination with a beautiful blond police detective may put everything at risk.
Detective Renee Holden has never worked a homicide quite like this. The victim has twin puncture wounds on his neck, and the only eyewitness swears she saw a vampire. Now’s definitely not the time to get distracted by a seductive stranger. But the suave, darkly austere, exotically handsome Rafe DaSilva is a hard man to deny, and as Renee falls under his spell, she also falls prey to his enemies. Desperate to protect her, Rafe lifts the veil on a shadow realm she can only visit—a world of intoxicating power, terrifying dangers, and forbidden pleasures.
Praise for Thirst
“With all the delicious alpha men (and equally awesome women), Thirst will renew your interest in vampire novels!”—RT Book Reviews (Top Pick)
“Ms. Frank’s so-very-different and quirky take on familiar paranormal species keeps me coming back every time I hear she has a new release.”—The Good, The Bad and The Unread
“Whenever I pick up a Jacquelyn Frank book I know I will find myself in an intriguing, beguiling world that I won’t want to leave. . . . If you are looking for a book that will hold you in its grip, with characters you will love and the perfect amount of romance with equally intriguing action, then Thirst is just what you need.”—Fresh Fiction
“With Thirst, Frank takes us on a suspenseful, action-packed ride.”—Heroes and Heartbreakers
“A lovely twist on a common story, Thirst gives us a slightly different spin on the vampires many of us love to read. . . . Add an unflappable, smart heroine to the mix with an action-packed murder mystery to solve and you’ve got hours of reading enjoyment.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Thirst has a little bit of everything. . . . There are different elements at work in this story including great romance, . . . great friendships, what could be an evil mastermind and the rogue vampire issue. This first book of this series has set up this series for more exciting books to come.”—Romance Between the Sheets
Praise for Jacquelyn Frank’s World of Nightwalkers novels
“A highly entertaining paranormal series.”—Fresh Fiction
“If you loved the original Nightwalker books, you’ll enjoy this.”—USA Today, on Forsaken
“Jacquelyn Frank uses a deft hand to weave the layers of this series together. . . . The love affairs have been wildly romantic with some very sensual love scenes.”—The Romance Reviews
“The relationships in this series are intriguing. . . . The ancient struggle between two forces gives this story plenty of action and sizzle.”—RT Book Reviews, on Forever
Includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Frank (A Kiss of Magic) grafts a sketch of an urban police procedural onto a vague setting of treaty negotiations, vampires hiding from humans, and a facile, obvious line between the good vamps and the bad, creating a sparse story that lacks bite. Energy vampire and lead negotiator Rafe DaSilva seduces cop Renee Holden primarily to probe her mind about her investigation of a murder he believes was committed by sycophants vampires who feed on drug addicts and sick people until they die instead of feeding lightly on the organic-minded, clean-living humans that the good vampires target. But the draw Rafe feels toward Renee's attractiveness and energy purity makes her a target for the sycophants and forces him to share secrets about vampire culture just to keep her safe. Renee's skittishness and her lackadaisical investigative style are incongruous for a seasoned N.Y.C. homicide detective, and there's too little crackle of the paranormal in either the fights or the sex scenes. A final info dump about vampire origins and high-ranking sycophants at large sets the stage for the next volume.
Customer Reviews
Great start to a new series and great twist on vampires!
Another new author for me! I liked her writing style. I really enjoyed this twist to vampires and look forward to the next book in the series. I seem to be in the minority of liking this book, but I truly enjoyed it.
Renee is good at her job as a NYC police homicide detective. She is known to sift through leads, has good instincts and is a hardnosed detective. She and her partner get a case that has them baffled. A man is killed in broad daylight and the witness swears he was bitten by a vampire. The woman gives a detailed description. Of course, they think it is a person that has dental implants, but they have to work the leads and see where it takes them.
Rafe has to find out what the beautiful detective knows. He is responsible for the peace summit that is going to be held in NYC. He promises the Queen that he will get the information needed to find out who is threatening the vampire culture, as well as threatening the summit with the blatant killing of a human. Rafe follows Renee and strikes up a conversation with her. He is charming, handsome and Renee is attracted to this mysterious stranger. He asks her to go out for coffee, she hesitates, but takes him up on his offer and meets him at the coffee shop. He charms her and gives her his phone number. He told her I want you to want to see me again so the ball is in your court.
Needless to say, Renee contacts him again and they go out on a date. They are attacked by rogue vampires known as sycophants. They kill two of the three, with the third threatening Renee that she isn’t safe. Rafe, under vampire, law is not to divulge what they are to humans unless the human is approved by the council. Rafe is worried for Renee’s safety and doesn’t want anything to happen to her so he feels it necessary to tell her what they are and who he is. An energy vampire. They draw energy from hosts that are pure, clean living with no drug or alcohol abuse, clean eating and exercise. The theory you are what you eat. They pierce the back of the neck at the base of the spine between the neck and vertebrae drawing the electrical impulses from the spinal cord. They only take what they need and hypnotize the hosts, so they don’t remember why they are feeling tired and a little run down. After 24-48 hours, the host is back to full strength. They also get energy from the sun. Renee is floored.
There is a lot more to this story and I am not going to tell you anymore. The secondary characters are strong and some are outrageously funny! There are so many twists and turns in the story. It held my interest and it was so entertaining. I loved the idea of energy vampires. I can’t wait for the next book in this series and can’t wait to see what’s next!
If you want an interesting twist to your usual paranormal vampire series, give this one a try, I highly recommend it.
3.5 Stars!
I loved the unique take on vampires in this series. They are nothing like I've read before. I felt the author succeeded in introducing a new species instead of harping on the same stereotype. They feed off of energy in a person rather than blood. You get a full explanation at the end of the book about how and why. Add to that, Renee could actually feel Rafes energy spark through her body when they were intimate. I thought that was brilliant of the author since that makes their sex scenes more intense and very hot!
I did have a few minor issues in the story. I didn't like how much it talked about how humans are mostly just a food source. Rafe even thinks about how they see humans like a human would see a cow. It was thought of more than once and it kept throwing me off. Hard to sell an attraction with that. The other thing that kept throwing me off was it felt like Renee was trying to be the man in the relationship. I'm all for girl power and I did like how she proved herself capable but I think we needed to see a more feminine side to her. Rafe was great and is the only reason I could see a softer side to her.
Overall, I liked this fresh new take on vampires and I will definitely read Halo's story. He intrigues me because of how much he's feared. ARC provided by NetGalley.
Thirst
I like to read Jacquelyn's books and grab them when I find them. Her stories are adult reading of fantasy and paranormal. This tends to go graphic vampire. Renee and Jimmy are detective partners. They get called to a murder with not so many clues. Rafe is a vampire in a high status job. He visits Renee to see what she found. They go to dinner and he feeds from her and removes her memories. Simone is the Queen, worldwide, and wants a treaty to bring everyone together. There is another murder in bright of day. Killean is a sycophant leader and wants to wipe the others away. Rafe trusts Renee and tells her what he is. Major Spoiler. Renee wants to go undercover to help the vamps. Spoiler. This is the first book in a series. I can't wait for the next book. If you don't mind graphic then check this out to read. Enjoy reading this story. It will pull you in! I volunteered to read and review this book.