Wednesday 9 June 2010

Lover Awakened by J. R. Ward Read Book Online Synopsis

Lover AwakenedJ.R.ward:Lover Awakened (Book 2) review
In the eternal battle between the vampires and the Lessening Society only a small band of warrior vampires, known as the Black Dagger Brotherhood, stand between the vampires and the total annihilation of their species. The members of the Brotherhood are all terrifying warriors who live a violent existence whilst upholding their vows to protect civilian vampires.

Zsadist is the most terrifying of all the Brothers. Kidnapped and sold into slavery as a child the first hundred years of his life were a nightmare of abuse. Locked and chained in a dungeon as a blood slave to a female member of the vampire aristocracy he was subjected to physical, sexual and mental abuse on a daily basis.

Nearly a hundred years after his dramatic rescue by his twin brother Phury, Zsadist is still a ruined man. He may have left the dungeon and the torture behind but he has never gotten over the abuse. With a trigger temper, a hatred of all women (and most men too) he is a ticking bomb of violence that can explode with the slightest provocation.
When Bella, a beautiful and high ranking aristocratic vampire is kidnapped by the Lessening Society, Zsadist is the only one who doesn’t stop searching for her. In his own way he is obsessed with thoughts of her and finding her is his new mission in life. After her own family have given her up for dead, Bella is finally rescued from the torture chamber where she was being kept captive by a lesser who had developed an unhealthy obsession for her.

As Zsadist pulls Bella’s beaten body out of the hole in the ground where she was being kept prisoner, it is clear that he has a deep attachment to her. Bella herself has always had a fascination for Zsadist, ever since the first time she saw him before she was kidnapped and throughout her captivity she thought of him and hoped that he would rescue her. Now that she is free, it is down to her to find a way of helping Zsadist leave the prison of his past behind if there is to ever be a hope for him to have a future with her.

Dark Lover by J. R. Ward Read Book Online Synopsis

Dark LoverDark Lover (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 1) By J.R. Ward Review
Set in present day Caldwell, New York ‘Dark Lover’ is the first in a series of novels about the Black Dagger Brotherhood. The Black Dagger Brotherhood is an ancient order of warrior vampires who defend their race against the lessers, vampire slayers who have been recruited by the Omega (an evil supernatural being who wants all vampires destroyed.) There are six warriors in the Brotherhood and these warriors are all that stand between the civilian vampires and the extinction of the vampire species at the hands of the lessers.

In the Black Dagger novels the vampires are a separate species to humans, to be a vampire you have to have been born carrying vampire blood. At the start of their lives vampires seem like humans, they have no special strengths and can go out in daylight but they go through a dangerous transition to vampire hood in their mid twenties. Although vampires can drink the blood of humans it has little nutritional value for them and they need to drink the blood of other vampires (of the opposite sex) to survive. A human bitten or drained by a vampire doesn’t rise as a vampire - they are just dead.
The vampires are few in number due to the legions of slayers hunting them down over the centuries, high infant mortality and the rigors of the transition to vampire hood that not all vampires survive.

The story focuses on the romance between Wrath, the only pure blooded vampire left on the planet, and Beth a human/vampire half breed who is about to undergo the transition from human to vampire but isn’t aware of her vampire heritage.

There are a lot of obstacles in their path. Wrath hates humans and doesn’t want a mate. Beth finds it hard to believe in her vampire heritage and doesn’t want to need Wrath. That would make their relationship difficult enough without them being the prime target for the lessers who are hatching a new strategy for wiping the vampires off the face of the earth.

Monday 7 June 2010

"Dead in the Family" By Charlaine Harris Book Review Now

Dead in the FamilyDead in the Family is the tenth book in Charlaine Harris's series.
SWith season 2 of HBO's "True Blood" hitting shelves May 25 and season 3 premiering in July, the much-awaited 10th book in Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series has finally been released, and it is just as spectacular as the other nine.

"Dead in the Family" continues the story of Louisiana barmaid Sookie Stackhouse as told in first-person by Sookie herself. While each book in the series is basically a self-contained tale set in North Louisiana, there are many long-running plotlines that span all 10 books. I would advise new readers to read the series in order beginning with "Dead Until Dark" rather than hopping on the bandwagon with this book.

Also, fans of the "True Blood" series should be aware the show is based on these books and only loosely follows the storyline as there are many differences in characters and events.
Harris neatly avoids the trap of giving readers the same story over and over again by letting her plotlines grow and develop with each new installment and reveals a little bit more of each character throughout the series.

After the events of the ninth book, Sookie is understandably quieter and more subdued, as she comes to terms with what happened to her in previous books. The biggest change seems to be in her personality, but she regains some of her normal perkiness after realizing she actually does want to live.

One major change in Sookie is her view on murder, which throughout the series has been that murder is wrong. Now, after a threat to her and her vampire lover's happiness is threatened, her first thoughts are that it would be better if the person threatening them just died. She reasons, "It's not that I approve of murder - but some people just beg to be killed, don't they?"

It is a change to see the harder-edged Sookie, although it can be hard to say whether this change is a product of the events of the previous book or by the fact that she's been hanging out with supernaturals for so long. After all, most of the supernaturals in each book usually solve their problems with death and violence.

Harris introduces several new characters in this addition to the series, and since, as previously stated, most problems are solved with violence in the supernatural world of Sookie Stackhouse; several characters are lost.

Harris impresses me with her attention to detail, which some vampire story authors may leave out. She gives a history of several of the key vampire characters while summarizing the events that lead to a character becoming a vampire. She gives great details on the differences between each of the shifters and Weres and the politics of both sets of supernaturals.

Harris weaves romance, mystery, fantasy and horror into a story like none other. She includes details about Shreveport, Ruston, Monroe and New Orleans like only a Southern native can, and she makes references to both University of Louisiana-Monroe and Tech. Fans of both the show and the books will enjoy this newest addition to the series.