Customer Reviews

Dark Thirst (The Brethren Series, Book 1)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Brethren are an ancient clan of ruthless vampires. They live on about 1,750 acres split among four families in Kentucky. Nobody bothers them. It is very secluded and isolated. No one comes or go, except illegal immigrants who are paid under the table - until they are slaughtered like the meat they are considered to be. They live very long lives. Their metabolisms and healing capacities were so far accelerated beyond those of humans that nothing short of a bullet to the head or a stake through the heart could kill them. The men take care of business and finances, the women tended to homes and families. Teen Brethren females are wed to Brethren men far older than them in arrangements preordained by the Elders. Women have no say in the rules or governing of the clans, no voice among the Council. They feed and sate their bloodlust after the males have finished. No one ever leaves the clans. No one ever leaves those secluded acres.

Brandon Noble is the grandson of Augustus Noble. Augustus is referred to as The Grandfather. (He is what most humans consider The Godfather, of the movies, to be.) While young, Brandon walked in during a robbery. To silence Brandon, the thieves beat his head and slit his throat. Help for Brandon arrived just a moment too late. His attackers were slaughtered, but from then on Brandon has been deaf and mute. Unlike his other kin, Brandon is horrified by his birthright. When time came for Brandon's bloodletting ritual, he shunned it, earning the Brethren's lasting wrath.

The last time Brandon considered leaving home for a special college for the deaf, The Grandfather broke all the bones in one of his hands. His brother, Caine, took pleasure in breaking all the bones in Brandon's other hand. It took a year for his hands to heal. Once Brandon is ready to attempt leaving again, he made sure no one knew in advance before disappearing. Brandon went to the only person he knew outside the clans, his former tutor, Jackson Jones. Jackson had known that something was strange about the Noble family and made sure Brandon knew he could come to him if he ever needed anything. Problem is that when Brandon arrives, Jackson is not home.

Angelina "Lina" Jones takes care of her brother's plants whenever he is out of town. She is stunned to find Brandon in Jackson's domicile. Being a cop, Lina first thought him to be a burglar until she had a clear view of him. Lina wants to help Brandon, however, the man refuses to tell her who he is running from or why. At the same time, Lina has her own problems. But she cannot deny her attraction to Brandon. They may be of different races, but love is color-blind, and Brandon is keeping secrets - secrets she plans to discover.

***** I was a bit confused at first, while trying to picture the characters in my mind's eye. Brandon, according to the cover, is white. Lina is black. I am SO happy to know that this author is color blind! I was beginning to believe that I would never live to see the day that writers would dare to cross-race the main hero and heroine. I believe that if it happens in today's world, then it should show in today's stories. This one does! Brava! Author Sara Reinke writes in a smooth flowing style that I found extremely easy to read. Nothing is so detailed as to become confusing. The focus is on the plot with the romance being a close second. There are a few secondary characters (one of Brandon's sisters and Lina's former partner) that may very well get their own story told soon. At least I hope so! Be warned that this book is a stand alone tale, but strings are left dangling for future problems with the Brethren. I eagerly look forward to the next segment of this mafia-style, vampire saga. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I love paranormal books & this one is very good. I believe its the start of a new vamp series & it laid the foundations for the characters as well as the vamp world. Its a different take on vamps (yes, they still need blood, but they can go out in the sun, eat, etc.) So if your looking for a new vamp series try this one ~ you won't be disappointed.

I really enjoyed reading this book, so much so I read it again and continue to flip back to my favorite parts. I loved the fact that the author took creative liscence and made the vampire lead, Brandon, vunerable and imperfect from the usual immortal beings I read about. He was a deaf/mute.And his youth added to a sense of innocence, but he had a strength as well. He was strong enough to endure so much abuse from his grandfather and his brother, strong enough to resist the urge of bloodlust that would envolve killing someone and strong enough to leave everything he knew, knowing he would suffer serious ramifications from his family and The Brethren if they cought him. I found Brandon sweet and edearing, strong where it really counted and not just physically and I suspect he is more powerfull than he anyone realizes. I found Angelina to be a strong character without being overbearing, whinny or annoying.I loved the interracial aspect and the fact that she was a little older(5 years) than Brandon. I loved the Brandon and Angelina together.I didagree with what someone else wrote about placing too much emphasis on the racial issue.I didn't find that to be the case at all. In fact, I was relieved that race wasn't emphasised.

Overall, I found this to be a fantastic read. The story flowed and was easy to follow. Not many spelling or grammtical errors that I saw.It was a great beginning to what I hope will be an even better sequel, which I read will be out next July.

This is my first book by this author, and I'm not quite sure if I liked it even though it was well written. It certainly wasn't a comfortable read. Being Asian myself, the interracial romance didn't bother me. What bothered me was the constant division of white and black. Angelina, the heroine, is a black cop perhaps in late 20s or early 30s. Brandon, the hero, is a white, mute, deaf, virgin and 21 year old run away. Throughout the book, Angelina makes distinction between skin color, referring Brandon as the white kid or her ex-boyfriend's new girl as the "Albino." Caine, Brandon's villain of a brother also uses the "N" word.

The plot is as follows. Brandon interrupted a midnight burglary at his home when he was a child. As he was being beaten severely on the head and shot, he watched his father and uncle change into vampires and rip out the burglars' necks. After that incident, Brandon is both deaf and mute. His grandfather has also forbidden anyone to telepathically mind speak to him or learn sign language. Still feeling guilty when Brandon is teenager, his father hires a tutor for Brandon. Because the Brethren plan on feeding off of Jackson, the tutor and his sister, Brandon helps them run away. When Brandon's grandfather learns of Brandon's acceptance into a college for the mute and deaf, Brandon's hands are crushed in punishment because all of the Brethren are born, married, and die at their Kentucky compound. No one is allowed to leave and interact w/ humans other than for bloodlust where the Brethren feed and kill their victims. Since the night of burglary, Brandon lives in fear of the bloodlust and refuses all blood. The story begins when Brandon waits for his hands to heal so he can runaway, where he meets up w/ Angelina his teenaged crush from 5 years ago. Since he did not have permission to leave, it's just a matter of time when the Brethren will track down the runaway.

Although the main villain is dealt w/ in the end, the storyline did not wrap up so I'm curious whether the next book will be about Brandon & Angelina again, or about Brandon's pregnant twin sister, Tessa, and Rafe, Angelina's ex-partner.

I also agree w/ a previous reviewer about the lack of Alpha male. The hero is a 21 year old virgin w/ a ton of insecurities and dependencies. He grew up being bullied by his older brother and taught that he's deficient in every way. His immaturity does make the romance in the story lackluster and uncomfortable because he's barely jailbait.

I did like the story, but the plot appeared more paranormal fiction then romance. A lot was written about the Brandon's past, but there really wasn't much written about the Brandon and Angelina together or why they fell in love. They are briefly together in the beginning and at the end.

I am still curious about how the main plot line of the Brethren elders coming after Brandon & Tessa will wrap up and how the vampires came to be I will likely pick up the next sequel. Hopefully, the book will be a little bit more in my comfort zone the next time. I would recommend the book if the interracial romance, the age difference, and the beta male hero do not bother you. Overall, I thought the plot was good, but not really worth a re-read or a keeper.

I just wanted to mention, that I've practiced Aikido 20 years, while some of the movement descriptions were vague, at least the author didn't describe all the kicking and punching as Aikido because there are none.

I liked the premise of the book in that it was an interracial paranormal romance and that the heroine is black but that is the extent of enjoyment. This book was one bad stereotype and/or cliche after another. Of course our heroine, is the epitome of the stereotypical African American female, grew up in the ghetto raised by a single parent, everything is about color with her, loud, crude and vulgar, etc. The situations were so cliche, for example, our heroine's ex left her for a white woman, then he comes to realize that he stills wants her when he sees her again, then he causes a scene at one of their mutual friends weddings (and sadly this was the most interesting part of the book). And of course, since we have a black person involved we have to start throwing the 'N' word around, I sure wasn't surprised to see that. The characters are so one dimensional, so was the plot. The characters weren't hard to figure out and it was too easy to predict the plot. I really didn't care for the weak male lead or the stupid heroine, I didn't find myself rooting for either one. I really just wanted the novel to end and I was kind of hoping the Brethren would kill off both to wrap this novel up quickly for me.

Reading this book I was more embarrassed for the author than anything else. Not because the writing is bad, it's very well written, it just wasn't enough to do it for me. I'll definitely be passing on any future works by this author.

I'm not a big fan of vampire novels, but must say I really enjoyed this one. Brandon, the protagonist, is not your run of the mill everyday vampire. He's not busting at the seams with male testosterone (no alpha male here, folks). Instead, he's a sensitive and compassionate soul. So much so in fact, that he tries to put off feeding as long as possible because he doesn't like the idea of having to kill. He's fairly young, which may explain why he's so much different from the type of vamps to which we're accustomed. And oh yeah, did I mention he's deaf? Imagine that, a vamp with a disability.

Because Brandon has so many qualities that vamps abhor, his family as a whole is not very receptive of him, his evil older brother and oh so powerful grandfather especially. He decides to leave and strike out on his own just to get away from them. In doing so, Brandon makes himself an enemy and must stay on guard to keep alive.

In the meanwhile, he stumbles upon Angelina, the sister of his former tutor. Because of his decision to escape, his taking up with a woman who is not only a filthy mortal, but also black, and her involvement in an incident that makes her an enemy who must die, they are forced to combat his fellow vampires, and run for their lives.

A lot of people may not like the protagonist because he's not really an alpha male, but that's what I found most endearing about him. As previously mentioned, Brandon is rather young (around 21), so I'm sure that will change as he matures (I, for one, hope not). The two lovers forge a bond and work to keep themselves alive. I can easily see how Angelina fail for him because Brandon, in my opinion, is a loveable vamp.

By the way, don't let the loveability factor fool you. This book is pretty scary at times. I sure hope there's a sequel in the very, very near future. It's bound to be a page turner.

I really like this author, she tells the story without the repetition of say Christine Feehan, who drags out her books with the same thing said so redundantly that it takes 5 chapters to fill what should fit in 1 chapter.
Never boring, good descriptive writing. The storyline is good, with original characters with flaws. It gets tiresome to always read about a 6'8 alpha stud caveman. Brandon is a believable character and I'm looking forward to seeing how he and Angelina confront the evil grandfather and uncles. I'm happy that Caine got what he deserved!!

I'm a sucker for a tortured hero. Brandon is fairly tortured and by those whom should have loved and protected him most-- his family.

I also felt while Brandon was tortured, I really didn't feel how tortured he was inwardly. If you've read Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon, thats an example of where you actually feel the heroes pain. I didn't feel that emotional attachment to Brandon. I did feel sorry for him, but thats about as far as my emotional level went for this hero.

I don't want to give away the plot of the book, but the story is well paced. You get a good feel for the life of the Noble family, but at the same time its leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

His brother Caine, I have to say the author gave him the perfect name. He hates, and I mean hates Brandon our hero with a vengeance. Sure it is explained that part of this comes from Caine and Brandon's father always paying attention to Brandon, always taking his side but you didn't get a huge sense that Brandon's father spent that much time with Brandon either. Thats why when he did, it was so special to Brandon. At any rate, I don't see where this insane level of hatred is coming from. Brandon is his little brother, you'd think he'd want to protect him, not humiliate and kill him.

Its explained Brandon had a crush on the heroine Lina from her visit to her brother (Brandon's Tutor) when he was 15 years old. I can see where he would fall in love with her quickly because frankly, she's the only female outside of family he's known that treated him fairly. I didn't quite understand why she fell in love so fast with him. Especially after having just been burned by her ex.

There are a few nit pick things. Like After Lina finds Brandon at her ex partners she goes looking for Caine anyway. Why? She saw what he was, he said what he'd do to her, and she went looking for him anyway. Another thing, not to sound stereo typical, but as a black woman, I can tell you, black people do not go looking for ghost, ghouls and the supernatural. The average black person would be on the first thing smoking out of town.
Especially after he's said he's going to kill you. One warning is enough!

I do like Brandon, I thought he was sweet, innocent but I slowly felt Rene stealing the show. Maybe because he sounds like Gambit from the X-men and I love Gambit lol.

My last nit pick is the over use of the word wondrous. The first couple times the hero showed his feelings using this word I thought awww, he sounds sweet, innocent. After the 10th or 12th time I read that word I was ready to strangle him.

Still it is a very entertaining book and she left plenty of unanswered question hanging to where I have already ordered book 2 on my Kindle.

Good read and interesting take on the vampire legend.

Syn
torturedheros.com

Sara Reinke starts with the good tenant for an author: write about what you know. Thus her setting Dark Thirst in Kentucky is a solid move. The Kentucky writer opens this highly original vampire tale, with a clan of vampires, originally made up of four families. They own a huge, isolated track of land; called "The Brethren", people give them a wide birth. Reinke demonstrate a strong world building in creating the hellish, throwback existence of The Brethren. The only people permitted near their compound are migrant illegals (a problem in Kentucky, actually). These poor unsuspecting souls are often used as servants, but more generally end up as din din, killed without a concern.

Like all vamps, they have long lives. They are strong, heal fast, and are damn hard to kill. Very throwback, with the men being the chest-thumping protectors of the clan; the females are relegated to being the `little woman', caring for their homes and their men. Marriages are set up with no cares to the woman's wishes, very archaic, seeing young teenagers married to older (much older men). Women are permitted no say in the marriages, no say in just about anything. The males eat first; the women only are permitted to eat after the males have finished (intriguingly reflecting old "hills" turn-of-the-century mentality of Kentucky and the South). The members of The Brethren never leave the compound; they especially never leave the clan.

But naturally, a writer lays down rules only to break them. Brandon Noble is the grandson of the head of the Brethren, Augustus, (ala Brando in The Godfather, only he makes Brando appear a choirboy by measure!). Brandon has run afoul of the strict rules set forth by the secluded clan and it may cost his life. When he was younger, he accidentally came upon a robbery in progress. The robbers attacked Brandon, and nearly killed him, which left him deaf and unable to speak. Worse even still, he shuns the blood rituals of The Brethren. A big no no in their world. When he finally manages to leave, he knows he will be own the run for his life.

Brandon attempts to leave the compound, and now once more he is on the run. He goes to his only friend, but the friend isn't there. He meets Lina Jones, the friend's sister, and she wants to help him, but they have a world of problems to over come, despite their growing attraction.

Reinke creates a vivid world, mixing the vampire clan with old country codes, gives you a hero that is white, a heroine black, basically saying she is not going to follow the patterns of all the writers before her. With this impressive novel, the author boldly cuts a vivid debut (mass-market debut, as Reinke has other books out with smaller presses). As a true measure of her talent, check out her Regency novel The Unexpected Engagement.An Unexpected Engagement

I am eager to see what the author will do with the next book in the series.

This is a terrific and really unusual romance. First of all, Lina is a few years older than Brandon, she's African-American, and more athletic and boyish than most romance heroines. She's much tougher than Brandon, who was not only tortured and abused by his family, but is inexperienced in the real world. Second, the depiction of deafness is compelling and believable. It makes sense that Lina is fluent in ASL, because her brother is deaf. The vampires are all telepathic, but because most of the scenes are between Brandon and Lina, there are lots of descriptions of sign language, and the author describes real ASL signs. The supernatural element adds a nice twist--he's scared to have sex with her because he might accidentally kill her--but when they do give in, the sex scenes are HOT. This is a great antidote to the abstinent vampires of Twilight. If only this would also get made into a movie.