ORDER A COPY: Vampire’s Thirst (The Awakening Series)
Publisher: Forever Yours
Publishing Date: May 6, 2014
Paperback: 224 pages
Rating: 3 stars
Starting where Book 1 left off, Duncan MacDonnough has assumed leadership of the local vampire conclave and changes are being met with resistance.
Kimber Treat, the necromancer everyone (including her) blames for starting the zombie apocalypse in the first place. Duncan and Kimber are new in their love and the complications of zombies and hungry vampires puts stress on an already shaky relationship. Duncan wants to keep her safe, but Kimber still believes she can end the Outbreak. Will the cost be too great?
In the continuing story from Vampire’s Hunger, we find that the vampires, now lead by Duncan, have moved several humans into their compound. The humans can stay in the safety of the compound, protected by the vampires, in exchange for blood to feed the vampires.
Safety is still a concern especially since they need to get food to feed all the humans staying in the compound and scavenging is becoming more difficult. Duncan is working with other vampires leaders to wall off corridors between compounds to travel between cities.
Kimber is still focused on trying to use her power as a necromancer to try and push the Unseen out of the zombies but she is finding the strain to much to handle this by herself. While running from zombies, Kimber trips and grabs onto Duncan’s second in command to keep from falling inadvertently draining the Unseen (which also reanimates the vampires) from him and using it to push the Unseen out of the zombies. Although Kimber is excited about the boost of power, she almost killed Duncan’s second. Now the vampires not only blame her for starting the apocalypse, but now they are afraid to get near her, including Duncan.
As a last attempt, Kimber locates other necromancers among the saved humans and attempts to combine their strengths to send the dark power back to the Unseen. If this works, Kimber might just put an end to the zombies, but even if it works, what will the vampires do the Kimber, now that they know she could kill them with just a touch?
THOUGHTS:
I was terribly disappointed in this Book 2 of the story.
Warning: some spoilers here!!!!
We find out at the beginning that Kimber is now pregnant by Duncan which is not unheard of but it is still just short of a miracle baby between human and vampire. Instead of telling Duncan (for most of the story), she first needs to risk lives to get a pregnancy test at the pharmacy in zombietown, using the excuse that she needs tampons. Now, I’m gonna guess that basic hygiene products like tampons should be part of the pharmaceutical/first aid raids and stocked up on along with food stuff so you don’t have to risk lives each time one of the many females in the compound starts their period. Duncan falls for this because deep down he is a guy and doesn’t ask tampon questions.
It is during this pregnancy test raid that she finds out that she can use the power inside of the vampires to help destroy the zombies (almost killing the vampire in the process), obviously none of the vampires want to touch her, including Duncan, which puts a strain on their relationship. Kimber is also experimenting with the other necromancers to see if they can work together. Kimber feels the power of the baby while she is working to push out the Unseen.
It is only after she finally tells Duncan about the baby, that he confronts her that maybe she is stealing the life from their baby when she does this. Now, by the time she finally confesses about the baby to Duncan, Kimber has gone on several raids, worked her body to stroke levels to push out the Unseen from the zombies and was possibly stealing power from the baby…the miracle human/vampire baby. I am unsatisfied that Duncan, the strong and powerful vampire leader, didn’t have a stronger reaction to the fact that Kimber not only hid his child from him, but was risking herself (and the child) over and over again. There should have been anger, yelling, screaming, threatening, betrayal. There should be been a nuclear blow up fight between them, but he just took it in stride and continued to let her risk herself and his child to destroy the Unseen. What??? What kind of alpha male vampire doesn’t go bat shit crazy when he finds out (1) he is going to be a father, (2) she’s neglected to mention it, and (3) she’s been risking her life for awhile now without discussing those risk to the baby with him? It just doesn’t make sense.
There was also several secondary characters that showed promise in Book #1, and we started Book #2 with a possible love triangle between Kimber’s friend Natalie, the fae Aohdan and Duncan’s second, which fizzled out quickly, when the vampire (previously drooling over Natalie) declares her returned desires for him as just a side effect of the feedings and would disappear in a few days.
I can’t find any information about whether this Book #2 was the end of the story line or not. There are several things settled, yet several questions left unanswered. Except I don’t believe that I even care anymore to continuing reading if there is a Book #3. This was a very unsatisfying story. 🙁
Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
