Thirst

Rating:
Summary: Not a bedtime tale for the kids
Review: "...the first thing I did was to lick the awful blossom of blood on the wall, red and black as the sinisterly sensual poppies of Georgia O'Keefe. I licked until I'd cleaned a place on the wall ... The old blood flaked off metallic and lifeless on my desperate tongue."

Such is the hunger of a vampire on the run, forced to take refuge in a derelict New York tenement, when a cheeseburger and fries aren't an option.

THIRST, like Michael Cecilione's previous work, MUSE, is the first-person story of a young woman whose unfulfilled sexual needs get her into hot water. In this case, Cassandra Hall narrates the storyline from two different perspectives in time, moving back and forth in alternating chapters. In one, she's a former, struggling window-dresser describing the events preceding and immediately subsequent to her transformation into a vampire by the tall, pale and handsome bloodsucker, Julian, who seduces her. In the second, it's a couple of years after her reincarnation, and she's on the run from the Advocates, a group of religious fanatics dedicated to ridding the world of the Undead, and from the Arbiters, an ancient race, alien to Earth, from whose mating with humans produced human vampires. In modern times, the Arbiters police the planet killing those of their unnatural progeny that have broken some sort of Vampire Law. (Cassandra's transgression remains only vaguely described, but it scarcely matters as the Arbiters never play major roles in the plot. The author's editor didn't do his job.) In any case, the two timelines merge at the end.

In MUSE, given a five-star rating by me on this website, the conclusion is devilishly clever and in-synch with the rest of the story. Unfortunately, while THIRST is a so-so horror fable, its finale almost seems more befitting another plot entirely. It's like Cecilione realized he needed to wrap it up, but didn't quite know how to manage it. Maybe it was pressure from the publisher to rush the novel into print that caused this lurch.

In case you're looking for a bedtime story to read the kids, this isn't it unless they're awfully precocious. The author has peppered the text with graphic scenes of violence, sex, and violent sex that are arguably gratuitous in nature. I suspect that, without them, Cecilione's manuscript would've made it only as far as his publisher's circular file.

Definitely a disappointment. Next!

Rating:
Summary: Great vamp reading
Review: Cecilione's writing is wonderful. Reading this was almost like watching a movie. Cassandra Hall as the narrator/vampire makes for an interesting character. She takes us through a roller-coaster of emotions from the somewhat shy, idealistic small-town girl in the big city to the jaded experienced vampire fighting for survival. Each chapter alternates from pre to post Cassandra-as-vampire until it finally reaches the present.

In between, this novel introduces vampire and human charactes with all their quirks. There are some interesting twists to the vamp myth, but nothing too outrageous. This novel also pulls heavily from BDSM themes, something rather unusual for "mainstream" novels. There is sex, and a lot of it in a variety of ways. But, pardon the pun, it is mostly done tastefully. LOL Don't get your hopes up; this isn't a porn novel, but read it with an open mind regarding bondage and S/m as this is merely a way to illustrate the lifestyle of the novel's vampires in their attempt to simulate some human feelings or perhaps to revel in their immortality.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. It is very well written, and I can never resist a vampire novel anyway. If you are into the vamp genre, or if you like intelligent, interesting horror, buy this now!

Rating:
Summary: Great Vamp Novel!
Review: Having read 'The Muse' by this author and loved it, I was really excited to find out that he has written a vampire novel, since that is my favorite genre. We meet Cassandra Hall, a vampire who has been outcast. The book goes back and forth pre-vampire and post vampire to really give you a feel for this character. The world Cecilione creates is uhm, highly erotic, in that his characters participate in various bondage and S & M games, as his vampires are no longer able to feel in the normal way, each act must be taken to an extreme for them to be able to feel anything. We get a glimpse into the world of these vamps and what makes them tick, we also get some different myths dispelled, such as the daylight being able to kill these vampires. The ending of the book is excellent, not what I expected, but leads us to believe that he may bring back some of these characters for a different book. At least I hope so :)

All in all- a great read!

Thanks for reading **Pandora

Rating:
Summary: Great Vamp Novel!
Review: Having read 'The Muse' by this author and loved it, I was really excited to find out that he has written a vampire novel, since that is my favorite genre. We meet Cassandra Hall, a vampire who has been outcast. The book goes back and forth pre-vampire and post vampire to really give you a feel for this character. The world Cecilione creates is uhm, highly erotic, in that his characters participate in various bondage and S & M games, as his vampires are no longer able to feel in the normal way, each act must be taken to an extreme for them to be able to feel anything. We get a glimpse into the world of these vamps and what makes them tick, we also get some different myths dispelled, such as the daylight being able to kill these vampires. The ending of the book is excellent, not what I expected, but leads us to believe that he may bring back some of these characters for a different book. At least I hope so :)

All in all- a great read!

Thanks for reading **Pandora

Rating:
Summary: S&M Vampire Love
Review: I am a collector of vampire novels. I found "Thirst" while hunting through the horror section of my bookstore. I have read a few of the reviews of this novel, and I will start by saying everyone has different tastes when it comes to a novel. I have to admit I was very disappointed. I felt that the novel had promise, but then turned into an incest, S&M, orgy "fest."

Cassandra is a struggling poet living in New York. During the day she works as a window dresser, and at night she attends poetry readings. While at a poetry reading she meets Julian, a mysterious and handsome man. There is an instant attraction. Initially Julian seems like a very likeable guy, he starts off very mysterious and romantic, and Cassandra is instantly in love. (He takes her to expensive restaurants, and shows and even on a carriage ride).

Suddenly Julian warns Cassandra that if she continues in their relationship she has to know how he really is. He tells her to think about it and if she wants to continue the relationship to show up at his home in a week. Cassandra is in love, she shows up. At this point, the entire novel turns into S&M, with Cassandra licking Julian's shoes; kneeling at his feet; and being so caught up in their love making that she even allows herself to be tied up constantly, tortured and even branded. And if that's not enough Julian's sister enters the picture and soon its an S&M menage a trois involving incest.

Each chapter, the story jumps back and forth from the present (where Cassandra is on the run from a group called the advocates (executioners who want to kill her because she broke one of the first vampire laws which says that you cannot kill another vampire)), and the past describing her blossoming relationship with Julian. When the novel is in the present we already know she has killed a vampire, we just don't know who, but we also know that neither Julian or his sister is in her present life. I personally found the chapters where Cassandra first met Julian more interesting than the chapters of her present life. Her present life is not all that interesting, and she's not a likeable heroine. She's a killer and you cannot blame the advocates for wanting her dead.

I don't think this story went anywhere. It was just a bunch of S&M, sex, incest, and group sex and then at the last chapter, an ending was thrown in. If you are not into the above listed items (which I am not) then I recommend you try another novel.

Rating:
Summary: S&M Vampire Love
Review: I am a collector of vampire novels. I found "Thirst" while hunting through the horror section of my bookstore. I have read a few of the reviews of this novel, and I will start by saying everyone has different tastes when it comes to a novel. I have to admit I was very disappointed. I felt that the novel had promise, but then turned into an incest, S&M, orgy "fest."

Cassandra is a struggling poet living in New York. During the day she works as a window dresser, and at night she attends poetry readings. While at a poetry reading she meets Julian, a mysterious and handsome man. There is an instant attraction. Initially Julian seems like a very likeable guy, he starts off very mysterious and romantic, and Cassandra is instantly in love. (He takes her to expensive restaurants, and shows and even on a carriage ride).

Suddenly Julian warns Cassandra that if she continues in their relationship she has to know how he really is. He tells her to think about it and if she wants to continue the relationship to show up at his home in a week. Cassandra is in love, she shows up. At this point, the entire novel turns into S&M, with Cassandra licking Julian's shoes; kneeling at his feet; and being so caught up in their love making that she even allows herself to be tied up constantly, tortured and even branded. And if that's not enough Julian's sister enters the picture and soon its an S&M menage a trois involving incest.

Each chapter, the story jumps back and forth from the present (where Cassandra is on the run from a group called the advocates (executioners who want to kill her because she broke one of the first vampire laws which says that you cannot kill another vampire)), and the past describing her blossoming relationship with Julian. When the novel is in the present we already know she has killed a vampire, we just don't know who, but we also know that neither Julian or his sister is in her present life. I personally found the chapters where Cassandra first met Julian more interesting than the chapters of her present life. Her present life is not all that interesting, and she's not a likeable heroine. She's a killer and you cannot blame the advocates for wanting her dead.

I don't think this story went anywhere. It was just a bunch of S&M, sex, incest, and group sex and then at the last chapter, an ending was thrown in. If you are not into the above listed items (which I am not) then I recommend you try another novel.

Rating:
Summary: A good read.
Review: Perhaps not as erotic as Anne Rice's books are, but it gets pretty good in this well-written book. Sometimes the reading gets confused as every other chapter shifts between the main character before and after she was a vampire. Nonetheless, that adds to the atmosphere. Nothing new in the vampire mythology is added, but overall the book is a good read, worthy of your time. Give it a look.

Rating:
Summary: Sensous
Review: The Vampire sub-genre has undergone a steady metamorphosis from the realm of horror to the sensual novel. Logistically some may argue that even Classic tales like Dracula had a sensuous sub-text, but the main thrust was to scare.
Michael Ceccilone has adapted admirably penning a vampire novel for the late twentieth/early twenty-first century.

Cassandra Hall is a sensitive window designer/would be poet when she meets the enigmatic Julien. Her fate is thereafter inevitable as this handsome stranger leads her through an erotic path of self-discovery, ending in her transformation to a vampire. Cassandra is hunted by two groups who would like her dead, a witch-hunting puritan group of humans and a vampire tribunal responsible for the species justice.

Cecilione changes narratives from present to past smoothly and gracefully as he tells Cassandra's story. His writes skillfully as he explains her origins and keeps readers' on the edge of their metaphorical seats wondering how his novel will end.
In addition Cecilione adds some metapysical and philosophical musings through his lead characters, blending this with an almost sado-mascicistic description of humamity's basest desires making this reviewer wonder if he might not have been channeling de Sade as he wrote. All in all an excellent vampire tale with lots more than biting fiends and stakes.

Rating:
Summary: A book like no other
Review: Thirst is a work of art in the literary sense. The relationship between Cassandra and Julian is both passionate and strangely erotic. You skip between Cassandra's past and present; yet you are never left confused. If you enjoy a good vampire novel this is a must read!

Rating:
Summary: BEST BOOK EVER
Review: This author is the best author I've ever encountered, and Thirst was the first of his books that I ever read. The book never has a slow moment, giving readers a glimpse of what the main character's life was like before she was a vampire and after she became a vampire. This book is highly erotic and the author's use of words and description is fantastic...this book is one that you have to read in order to understand just how great it is.