Deep Midnight [Mass Market Paperback]

Shannon Drake (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What are vampires? According to Drake's fun, fanciful read, they're just another group of emotionally challenged creatures in need of a good 12-step program. In the third volume of her vampire series, Drake (Seize the Dawn) introduces Ragnor Wulfson, a 1,000-year-old vampire, formerly a Viking, who is now an antiques dealer and a vampire enforcer. When Ragnor learns that his former lover Nari, the Contessa della Trieste and a naughty vampire, is throwing a masquerade ball during Venice's Carnevale festival, he travels to the city to find out what fiendish diversions she's planned. At the party, Nari and her minions feast upon the guests, but only Jordan Riley, a well-known book critic from the States, witnesses the carnage. Despite Nari's assurances that the macabre scene was part of the evening's dramatics, Jordan is convinced that what she saw was real, but the only person who believes her is Ragnor, a mysterious hulk of a man who believes she's in danger. While the two hunt down the ancient evil that appears to be stalking Jordan, they explore their mutual passion for each other. Drake's descriptions of Venice are lush, and her colorful cast of characters will engage. Those who can overlook the novel's far-fetched plot and sensational finish will be heartily entertained by this outrageous comic book romp. (Sept.)Forecast: Print advertising in USA Today and Fangoria will entice fans of TV's favorite Vampire Slayer to check out the newest installment in Drake's series.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an alternate Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Zebra Books (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821777394
• ISBN-13: 978-0821777398
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #416,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Warmed-over Rice, January 12, 2003

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Midnight (Mass Market Paperback)

If you're ever planning to spend Carnival in Venice, "Deep Midnight" would be a good book to take with you. You'll soon be seeing vampires along every canal, dressed in very weird costumes and masks. The heroine of this novel has three costume changes, including an outfit in fire-engine red vinyl that is an irresistible lure for the undead. Jordan thought she had buried her past when she left South Carolina but there is a mysterious masked dottore who seems to show up whenever she wanders alone on the streets of Venice, after midnight (this happens often).

Another mysterious stranger, who is disguised as a wolf rescues Jordan from a masked ball where the other guests turn into demons and devour each other. He disappears, mask still firmly in place, but the next day she is introduced to a tall, blonde stranger who seems to remind her of someone.

Meanwhile Jordan's cousin, Jared slinks off to the contessa whose ball was ruined by Jordan's hysterics (no one believes her story about the demon-guests). One might even say that Jared tries to suck up to the contessa, but really it happens the other way around.

Jordan, who makes her living as a book reviewer (yay!) flies to New Orleans to interview an author who seems to know a great deal about vampires.

If "Deep Midnight" sound a lot like warmed-over Rice (Anne, that is), well that's what it is, except the sex isn't nearly as imaginative. There is even a long, rather dull history of how the tall, blonde stranger and the partying contessa got turned into nosferati, way back during the Age of Vikings.

The main thing I'd like to find out is how Jordan got paid for her book reviews.

However, if you decide you could really go for a Viking vampire, read this book. The Venetian background is mildly interesting, although I'll never understand why vampires who are allergic to seawater would choose to live in a city that is sinking into the Adriatic. (This peculiarity does lead to an unintentionally hysterical scene where Jordan sloshes a bucket of canal water over her blood-sucking pursuers.)

NOTE: Also try typing 'nosferati' into your search engine. Most references are in German, but I did find an essay that starts out: "Thus are born the universe's first true quantum-mechanical living-dead..." Yo. Some people out there are really serious about vampires.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars disappointing, September 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Deep Midnight (Mass Market Paperback)

I love paranormal romances, but this one seemed a little far fetched. There is no great love between the two characters and doesn't seem to be a whole lot of passion between them. I feel as though the reader gets left in the dark in this book. I normally will read a book within a day and it has taken me 3 days to complete this one.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great possibilities, but only a so-so romance, September 3, 2001

By 

"b_dafforn" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deep Midnight (Mass Market Paperback)

As an avid Shannon Drake fan I was somewhat dissappointed in certain aspects of Deep Midnight. Drake's artful description of Venice and Carnivale is breathtaking and she successfully creates a paranormal storyline, but if you are looking for the passionate and almost obsessive love affairs of the first two books in this series then I am afraid that you will be very dissappointed. Jordan and Ragnor are not shown to be anything near to soul-mates and love doesn't even come into it. In fact, it seems like their relationship has even yet to start. Another dissappointment is the sex scenes. In the past Drake has used her skill to take our breath away, it is not so in this case. So, overall, the storyline was good but was never bulit upon and you are left wondering if they will even end up together or if they will break up next week.