Customer Reviews

The Hunger[hardcover]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

John, the Earl of Langley, and Beatrix, a lovely courtesan are two lovers both with dark secrets that they dare not reveal to each other lest they be rejected. Beatrix is not human, and never has been. By the gift or curse of a being called the Companion in her blood, she has lived for centuries. She is a vampire, one of the few that is born into the life. For a relatively brief era, she lived a life of pure depravity, trailing along with her "sister", the made vampire, Asharti. When Bea came to her senses and turned her back on that life, she began a quest for redemption, and never let another person truly touch her heart until John. In comparison, his secret is less dark, but equally dangerous. As a spy for the British Empire, he lives on the edge, and is in constant peril, but never so much as now. Asharti has returned, and both his position as a spy and as Beatrix's lover put John at risk.

**** Ms. Squires always delivers a carefully crafted book that moves rapidly. Her use of flashbacks is deft and well done; the reader never has to stop and think whether they are in the future or past, it is always clear. The Hunger's conclusion is among the most exciting ones ever written in a romance novel, you will be holding your breath until the end. If you enjoy reading about a complex alternate world, then this is sure to be a joy. ****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore,Freelance Reviewer.

Susan Squires has a new vampire trilogy going for St. Martins. The first, The Companion, was a knock out of a story that took you into sweeping locales and into the dark realm of the vampire. The second book in the series is out now, The Hunger, and she continues to the dark and oft gory vamp tales with all the power of the first.

In the late Regency era, Beatrix Lisse has spent years atoning for her sins - literally six hundred of them. She is a vampire. Still, even though the centuries pass there is one man who stays in her heart and mind, a man she loved ages ago. However, when she crosses paths with John Staunton, the Earl of Langley, she is moved by him. John is a rake of the highest order, a notorious rogue. Or so he wants people to believe. Beatrix surrenders to the passion provokes within her, but she holds tight to her secrets of being a vampire. When John abandons her, she learns he was also holding a secret close to his chest.

John is a spy for England, with a mission to find who is behind the sudden shift in power within the French government. John is drawn to Beatrix, seeing an innocence within her that pulls him, yet he knows he cannot keep her close or he would be risking her life. Soon he learns dark secrets about his love and that her centuries old rival, Asharti, is the one he seeks and she means to see both John and Beatrix destroyed. John and Beatrix must unite to defeat Asharti as the madness of the French horrors increases about them.

It's beautifully researched. Squires brings the period to life. Be warned this is a very dark tale, so people wanting kinder gentler vamps need to know going in this is a very violent tale at times. People familiar with Squires previous writings in Historicals and Vamps knows she won't pull punches. Also, the focus is not really the romance, but the story. It's a vivid, passionate tale which is sure to please her fans and those readers looking for a stronger vampire tale, in the flavour of Anne Rice.

Highly recommended for those wanting a dark, dark vamp tale that leaves you eager for book three in the series.

I always like it when I come across a book that I don't want to put down. This was one of them. Squires manages to put vampires in an interesting historical context. Yeah, there was a dark and emotionally (and physically) tortured vampire, but he kind of gets over himself. The heroine was idiosyncratic, smart, independent and interesting. I could have done with less graphic torture scenes, but still liked the book very much.

I read "No More Lies" and "Body Electric" while anxiously waiting for the next vampire romance. I wasn't disappointed. Ms Squires novels are always different - what an imagination! And her characters are so well drawn, I feel like I know them. If you want to know what an author means when she says "show, don't tell" then read something by Susan Squires. She is amazing.

In the second stand-alone volume of her vampire trilogy, Susan Squires returns with another fabulously dark and grisly tale that goes back prior to the time period setting of the first book, THE COMPANION. It features the `born' vampire Beatrix Lisse who has spent the last six hundred years atoning for the sins of her `youth'. In trying to forget the one man, her mentor, whom she loved so many centuries before, she has remained celibate for six hundred years, all the while maintaining the facade to all and sundry of being a famous and much sought after courtesan. Bored beyond belief and in keeping up appearances she had challenged the many sycophants that surrounded her to bring to her the most debauched man in England.

In somewhat similar circumstances, John Staunton, Earl of Langley cultivated a long held opinion that belied his true nature and the secret life he led as a spy for England and his latest mission of trying to ferret out the sudden shift of power that was backing Napoleon. After one meeting, neither would be ready for the fierce passion that enveloped each as John would see, and sense in Beatrix the innocence that she had long ago felt was lost to her. Even Beatrix would feel a disturbing need for sexual passion more compelling than any she'd felt for centuries. Though feeling as she did, Beatrix simply could not relinquish the truth of her true nature until fate stepped in and she discovered that John had put himself in harms way when his mission led him into the clutches of Beatrix's long time rival who threatened not only John but the very fabric of life as they knew it. As long-held secrets came to light, John and Beatrix united to battle a foe whose evil had long reaching effects. When Beatrix's life hung in the balance John would be compelled to risk all to gather together the participants needed to combat their common foe all the while knowing that should he save her life he just might lose her love.

*** This was an amazing story that will capture the reader from the very first pages until the breath-taking climax. Utilizing flashbacks throughout the story, Squires handles these exceptionally well and so smoothly, that they in no way hinder the flow or continuity. The characterizations of both Beatrix and John are extremely well defined with, I felt, even more dimension and depth expertly drawn by the interactions of the secondary characters throughout the story. The historical aspect was more than adequately researched though a fair warning is needed that there are some very sexually graphic and grisly scenes that could be viewed as disturbing to the faint of heart. Having previously read THE COMPANION, and though considered the first book in the trilogy, if I were to make a recommendation, I would read THE HUNGER first. Whichever volume the reader does choose to read first though will certainly not decrease the overall thrill of this extremely enjoyable and marvelously gritty vampire series I found to be absolutely delicious!

--- Marilyn, for www.paranormalromancewriters.com ---

It seems that this book would be better as the first book rather than the second in the series. The Hunger gives more history on Asharti and Beatrix than The Companion. In The Companion, it shows Asharti's cruelty explicitly.

In this story about Beatrix, she longs for her first and only love Stepha Sincai. Beatrix is a 600 year old vampire and seems to be lacking something in her life. She is surrounded by art, music, and poetry and this is not enough to fill her life. She is surrounded by men whom she entertains and feeds from for her survival. One occasion she meets John Staunton and her life is changed forever. He challenges her. He never comes at the times he is requested. He does not bow down for her every whim. This turns Beatrix on. John is a spy for England. However, Beatrix just sees him as a rake who does not care for her. John sees her as someone who lacks virtue and will use him like his past loves.

I bet you can guess the ending. Stephan Sincai does make an appearance and Asharti is in here being her usual cruel self. I found this book slow until about the middle of it. I found the beginning of the book descriptive about the characters' backgrounds but no real interaction between them to make it a well developed plot. It needs more to build a relationship between Beatrix and John. It is a dark story. If you are looking for erotic, this is not it. This book has rape and torture in it. If Susan Squires is using this as her technique to depict Asharti as evil, she has done a great job. It is really twisted. My heart bled for John as these acts were occurring. I even found myself crying over these horrible acts.

I LOVED THE BOOK BUT I WAS A LITTLE CONFUSED BY THE FACT THAT ASHARTI WAS IN THIS ONE...WASN'T SHE KILLED IN THE COMPANION??? OTHER THAN THAT THE BOOK WAS GREAT. IT AD JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ROMANCE AND MYSTERY TO IT...RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE!!!!!!!!!!

This is the second in the series started with "The Companion", although chronologically it occurs first; the third book is "The Burning". It's probably worth reading them in series order as the author slowly unfolds her vampire worldview and we meet some of the same characters.

"The Hunger" is about Beatrix Lisse, Countess of Lente, a born vampire who is part of an experiment by Stephan Sincai (hero of the third book) to prove that "made" vampires are no different than "born" ones. The vampire Rules require all "made" vampires to be instantly killed but Stephan decided to bring up two vampires equally to prove they are equally entitled to life. Unfortunately for him he picked a rather damaged young "made" vampire, Asharti, to bring up alongside Beatrix and eventually Asharti persuades Beatrix to leave his tutelage and they launch themselves on the world.

Anyone who has read "The Companion" knows Asharti is a nasty piece of work; Beatrix, on the other hand, has spent the last 600 years trying to make up for her first 100 years with Asharti of killing people for their blood. The Countess of Lente is known as a patron to the arts, she is well-liked in the Polite World of Regency London and in fact the men of society, who believe she is a skilled courtesan, all vie for her affections. She isn't actually a courtesan, she uses her assignations with men to feed a little from them and then to give them memories of a night to remember, even though they didn't actually experience it.

However, as soon as she meets the Earl of Langley, John Staunton, she realises he is different from all the other men who cluster around her. Mainly because he doesn't seem all that interested in her - evidently a cause of some pique - and she furthers the acquaintance. He is working as a spy for England and puts himself in harm's way many times in order to try to find out some of Napoleon's plans. Little does he know that Asharti is behind Napoleon's successes and that she is raising up an army of vampires who cannot be defeated by humans.

When John is kidnapped by Asharti, Beatrix goes to the rescue and it is at that point that John discovers she is a vampire and she gets herself caught trying to save him. He knows vampires are evil, having suffered under some tortures from Asharti. Will he do anything to rescue her?

Like "The Companion" this book is set in a very interesting time - the Regency - with the added kick of the vampire theme. I like what Squires has done with her vampires, the vampirism being a kind of blood-borne parasite that lives symbiotically with its host. However, I would not want to be a hero in any of her stories - in each of these three the heroes have spent quite a long time being tortured. John gets off it lightly, having only 3 weeks of torture; in the other two books the men are suffering for 2 years or more. And this is not your regular thumbscrews and rack torture, it's sexual torture and I found that aspect of the book rather distasteful - I felt that the author enjoyed writing about it a little too much. Perhaps it's supposed to be titillating to some readers but it didn't work like that at all for me; I rather wish that side of it was off-scene and more was made of the relationship between Beatrice and John after the rescue.

This is a good book, well-written and engaging (apart from the one reservation mentioned above). I really enjoyed the local colour of a person going to the guillotine and the way people reacted to it in the crowds. I don't think it's as good as the first book and I didn't really enjoy the third in the series but this is still worth a read and has a great deal more character development and growth than an awful lot of other books in this genre.

I could hardly wait to read this second book and I was not disappointed. If I had it to do over again(and of course I will!) I would read this book before The Companion. Mostly because I knew what happens to Asharti from the Companion but reading the Companion I didnt know who Beatrix(she plays a small part in the first book)was or where Asharti came from and why.Both are such great "escape" books. I didnt want them to end! I am more than ready for the next one Ms Squires-bring it on!

Beatrix was born a vampire. She was saved by by Stephan, an older more powerful vampire, as a teenager when her mother abandoned her. Stephan hoped to teach Beatrix and another young vampire girl named Asharti to use their unique abilities to survive. When Asharti and Beatrix discover Stephan's true motives, they leave. The two women spend a very long time indulging in sex with feeding until Beatrix has had enough and heads off on her own, leaving Asharti to her own wicked ways.

Centuries later, Beatrix fools people into thinking she is a courtesan, using gentleman to feed from. During one of her parties Beatrix meets John Langley. There is a connection between them that confuses both of them. Beatrix and John seek each others company and with each encounter their attraction grows.

John is spy and wonders if Beatrix's perception of him is so sharp because she is a spy as well. Beatrix wonders why she feels drawn to John when after centuries she has never felt this way before. Often sent away on secret missions, John's latest mission has him seeking information on who or what is draining the blood of sailors aboard English ships. Beatrix is not taking John's absence well. When John arrives at Beatrix's home upon his return, they make love. However, they continue to keep an emotional distance between each other in the hopes of disguising their true feelings. When John has to leave Beatrix a second time, Beatrix really feels lost and she has difficulty keeping the bad memories at bay.

John's search leads him to Asharti who quickly captures him and then compels him to do her twisted and perverted bidding. When Beatrix discovers that Asharti has John, she rushes to save him. After rescuing John though, it then becomes John who must risk everything to save Beatrix when Asharti seeks revenge against her. John seeks help from Stephan, hoping that together they can expose Asharti's evil intentions. In this battle of good and evil, John hopes that their love will be enough to save them.

The Hunger is a mesmerizing tale. The things Beatrix has seen and done leave her lonely and craving what she has with John. John becomes trapped in Beatrix's world unwillingly, and yet the peace he finds with Beatrix is undeniable. Asharti is sadistic and depraved. Everything that happens to John while he is held captive is disturbing. I think The Hunger is a well-written story worthy of praise for it's depth and emotion, but I found it to be a bit too dark and depressing. By the end I felt exhausted. I was very relieved that the story ends on a good note. The Hunger is a very ominous, erotic and tragic story. Despite it's darkness, the intense and emotional storyline kept me riveted throughout.

Nannette
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed