Title: Thirsty
Author: Tracey Bateman
Publisher’s Synopsis: There’s no place like home, they say.
“Hello, I’m Nina Parker…and I’m an alcoholic.”
For Nina, it’s not the weighty admission but the first steps toward recovery that prove most difficult. She must face her ex-husband, Hunt, with little hope of making amends, and try to rebuild a relationship with her angry teenage daughter, Meagan. Hardest of all, she is forced to return to Abbey Hills, Missouri, the hometown she abruptly abandoned nearly two decades earlier–and her unexpected arrival in the sleepy Ozark town catches the attention of someone–or something–igniting a two-hundred-fifty-year-old desire that rages like a wildfire.
Unaware of the darkness stalking her, Nina is confronted with a series of events that threaten to unhinge her sobriety. Her daughter wants to spend time with the parents Nina left behind. A terrifying event that has haunted Nina for almost twenty years begins to surface. And an alluring neighbor initiates an unusual friendship with Nina, but is Markus truly a kindred spirit or a man guarding dangerous secrets?
As everything she loves hangs in the balance, will Nina’s feeble grasp on her demons be broken, leaving her powerless against the thirst? The battle between redemption and obsession unfold to its startling, unforgettable end.
When I got the invitation to review a vampire book for Multnomah, well let’s just say I was intrigued. There are a couple of things you should know.
1. The only vampire fiction I’ve ever read was the Twilight Saga.
2. I don’t intend to make a habit of reading vampire fiction. It’s just not my thing, and from what I understand, most isn’t of the ‘don’t murder humans’ variety. I’m not going to start rooting for creatures that kill people. Sorry. Not happening. That’s a little like fish cheering on the guy with the hook in the water.
So, with that in mind, I opened this book with a bit of trepidation. Had I made the right decision? Was it fair to the publisher to review a book that I knew I probably wouldn’t purchase? Or, was I possibly a needed balance in a world that is a bit obsessed with the whole genre right now?
First of all, true vampire aficionados will not like her take on the whole vampire thing. It leans more toward Meyer and less toward Dracula (at least from what I understand Dracula to be about. I haven’t read it so this is just my possibly wrong understanding). Unlike Meyer, the vampire(s) of Bateman’s book are born that way (more Harry Potterish than Meyerish) and you get a stronger sense of danger even though you (like Meyer) do trust him.
Now, before I get blasted for comparing everything to Meyer as if she is the standard of the vampire genre when it’s been around for years and she’s pretty much created her own world (which I personally think is the appeal) please remember, she is all I have to compare it to. I haven’t read any other and don’t intend to. So, when I compare to Meyer it is only becuase that’s the only thing I can compare to– sorry vampire die hards… if you even read this blog. (Kind of doubt that).
The best part of this book was that while it is technically a “vampire novel”, two-thirds of it has nothing to do with the vampire(s) at all. It has a plot, standing alone, and it’s a good one. I loved how Ms. Bateman really worked hard to let us see into the heart of the main female character and see her flaws for the raw ugliness that they were, and the virtues that her own sin-filled life hadn’t completely stamped out.
I loved that it didn’t have a “neat and tidy” ending, and yet it was still satisfying. There was no “happily ever after” so to speak but there was a promise of a real life for real people and in a way that made me stand up and cheer.
There were so many layers to this plot that it’s hard to write about without giving away too much of it. I will say, I think this is the kind of book that those who avoid vampire novels will enjoy anyway because of how it is written and how that part of the plot is dealt with. I also think that Meyer fans won’t see it as a “copycat” and would enjoy it. As for those who loved the original genre before the advent of Twilight, well, my guess is that this wouldn’t offend their vampirish sensibilities either. Somehow Ms. Bateman has managed to bridge her novel very nicely– probably because she didn’t glamorize vampirism in any way and because she did show one to be a semi-sympathetic character. It is hard to balance, but she did it well.
Multnomah gave me a copy to review and I’m passing it along to share the ‘thirst’. Sorry, couldn’t resist. Just post a comment and you’ll be entered.
Now I’m curious… can anyone tell me what the appeal of vampire novels is? I understand the appeal of Twilight as a specific set of books. What I don’t understand is the appeal of the genre itself. Anyone care to enlighten me?
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