Customer Reviews

Candle Bay

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Some of the reviews of Candle Bay I read compared it to work by Laurell K Hamilton. I agree that Thorne was influenced by Hamilton's style, and employs some similar horror/sex shock techniques. But Candle Bay reminded me more of some Ann Rice vampire tales. That's not necessarily a good thing.

I enjoyed Candle Bay overall and I think the plot is entertaining, if a bit convoluted at times (Julian is running so many schemes it's a bit amazing he can keep them all straight!). The main vampire characters - Julian and the Darling family vamps - are well-explained, well-defined and interesting throughout. The twins got on my nerves but I think they were supposed to.

Amanda -- the MAIN human character and unknowing catalyst for the brewing vampire war -- is the main thing about Candle Bay that really disappointed me. Amanda is a very thinly-based character; you have very little interaction with her beyong her reacting to the other characters (and Candle Bay itself). I never had a strong sense of who she was, or where she came from. There was nothing that convinced me she was special enough, interesting enough or dazzling enough for two vampires (and two generations of vamps!) to fight over. Anita Blake she is not.

The book ends with a cliffhanger, so I assume we will see more of the Darling clan and their potential new vamp member, Amanda. I hope she's a more interesting vampire than she was human in Candle Bay.

I finished this book in two days. Tamara Thorne is one of the few authors who can mix horror and humor without watering down either. The focus of the plot is a mafia style war between two families of vampires. There is also a dash of romance and quite a bit of sex, but don't worry-this is not a typical 'vampire romance', expect plently of gore and gothic atmosphere. Highly recommended for fans of Laurell Hamilton. A vampire novel with plenty of juice!

This story draws on so many disparate elements that it shouldn't work at all, but it does, and quite well.

Fresh-faced Amanda goes to work as San Francisco's Candle Bay hotel concierge, straight out of college. She's a lover of horror stories, but is completely oblivious to the fact that her employers, the Darling family, are an old vampire clan, and the Darlings do everything in their hypnotic power to keep her unaware. The Darlings have an ongoing gang-war with another vampire family, the Dantes, and are presently hosting one of the original trueborn vampire race - an extreme rarity, in the world - Julian Valentyne.

Julian comes bearing a gift: a precious, hitherto believed to be mythical elixir, that prolongs even vampire longevity and heals humans more quickly than usual, which is a valuable commodity to vampires whose hotel business is a front for a revolving food supply - the Darlings feed (lightly) on their sleeping guests, hypnotically erasing their memories of the nocturnal encounter, and being able to eliminate the wounds on their meals' throats before morning helps.

Julian is hardly an altruist, however. He has ulterior motives. He seeks a fabled treasure beneath the Darlings' hotel. Toward keeping his benefactor host family confused as to his true intentions, he turns them into drug addicts, exacerbates tensions between them and the Dantes, and works his charms on Amanda - who is the reincarnation of his sole human love, from Atlantis - to win her away from the attentions of Stephen Darling.

It may even be of importance for Julian to succeed in finding the treasure, despite his horrendous tactics - if he doesn't, both the human and vampire races may soon find themselves extinct.

This book succeeds on pure style and panache. It reads not like a horror novel, but like an epic black comedy - a good portion of the early part of the story is spent chasing the body of a murdered guest in a laundry cart, in true 1930s Hollywood comedy form. The dialogue is snappy, the characters credibly handled. Stephen and Amanda are the straightforward star-crossed lovers; sexy Barbara Steele-ish vamp Natasha is the hotel's CEO; Uncle Ori is obsessed with The Godfather, playing the soundtrack at family meetings; brother Ivor is a strong, silent brooder and thinker; and the psychopathic (but oddly charming) pre-teenage twins, Ivy and Lucy, are Wednesday and Pugsley Addams as serial killers.

This book is a lot of fun. It reads like a better-plotted Queen of the Damned, with more humorously likeable characters. Its only real flaws are a too-abrupt ending and a curious lack of developmental attention to human heroine Amanda. But the Darling family are delightfully demented and well-drawn, and the lengthy story moves at a pretty good clip.

Pass the AB-negative. Cheers!

This is the pinnacle of Tamara Thorne's brilliant writing career. And that says a mouthful; because this dame can write a yarn. She writes a great vampire novel here and does so much better than Ms.Rice.

This book has it all; sex, violence, gore, romance. What else can a horror fan ask for? Plot synopsis? You got it!!

Amanda, an innocent little thing, goes to work at Candle Bay resort, owned by the Darlings, a vampire clan. Candle Bay is an exclusive resort outside of San Francisco. The Darlings have an on-going feud with The Dante's. And the fun begins.

Thorne outdoes herself with each effort and is quickly becoming one of the best female horror writers published today. Her pacing of a novel is smooth and effortless, her characters are fleshed out, the violence quick and painful to the jugular, and the sex...Well you need to read this novel.

I have yet to read Eternity but it looks fantastic. Her new novel, The Forgotten, to be released in November 2002, also looks awesome.

Tamara, please, please, keep 'em coming!!!

What a great read. The vivid pictures of the hotel, the foggy coast, the mobster Uncle, the vampire family and love in bloom. This is just a hint of what's inside this book. This is an excellent story, written well, fast-paced and leaves you hanging, just a bit, in the end. I'm hoping...sequel???...but no matter. I enjoyed the charm of Stephen and Amanda, the cast of crazy vampires and the setting for this haunt. Run out and pick this up, easily one of her best!

Candle Bay is an awesome book. From the moment I cracked the spine open I have been enthralled in this story of lust, love,and revenge. Ms. Thorne tells a tantilating tale that will leave you dying for more. I suggest this book to anybody who is ready for a good read.

Welcome to the Candle Bay Hotel and Spa, California.

The family who own it are vampires, as is a large portion of the staff. Hey no one's perfect, but the Darlings have now bargained a pureblood vampire for a special elixir that heals the bite wounds within seconds. How considerate.
The scheming pureblood has neglected to mention the side effects: A loss of self-control to both vampires and humans, but hey, it's all part of the fun!
Plus the Darlings are heading to a clan war with the vampiric Dante family...

A bit off putting? Well let's meet the humans. The concierge and his new assistant each have an eye on the vampiric managers. So it's a shame that the assistant concierge is the reincarnation of the pureblood's bride...

Enjoy your stay...

Wow ... was an incredible disappointment. After reading the other reviewers' glowing comments I was excited to begin this 'riveting' novel. Too much dialogue, barely fleshed-out characters (especially Stephen) and not much personal investment in the heroine. There are SO many other vampire-based novels I found more entertaining (Laurell K. Hamilton series, Katie Macalester, and more). This definitely won't hit my "keeper" shelf.

This book provides a new view on vampires. In this book there is not only one type of vampire, but two; trueborns, and human vampires. Trueborns are the original vampires, born being a vampire. Human vampires are what we normally think of vampires being, born through an exchange of blood from a vampire to a human.

In the little town of Candle Bay, the Candle Bay resort is owned by a family of human vampires called the Darlings. When the new assistant concierge, Amanda Pearce, arrives at the hotel she feels as if she was drawn there, and maybe she was, but more importantly she was drawn into the middle of a blood war between the Darlings and there nemesises the Dantes. Other than the fact that the Darlings nearly destroyed the Dantes years ago, the Dantes also want a powerful and useful potion possessed by the Darling. A war begins, and Amanda is in the middle of it. Before she knows it she finds herself playing an important role in an age old trueblood story that, if it comes to be true, will kill her and all she loves.

Despite this interesting story plot I feel that the book was not very well written(much like my review!:)), it also tends to be a little dry at times, so while I would suggest reading this I would also say that it will not win any awards.

This is the first book by Ms. Thorne that I have read. It was absolutely spectacular. The book had my full attention until I was finished. Her story is captivating and so real.