The Passion [Hardcover]

Donna Boyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998

Chances are, you've met one. You've passed him on the street and looked away to avoid his mesmerizing gaze. You've hurried on to resist his aura of power, your senses weakened, your face flushed and your mind cloudy. That is the lure of his world. And for the first time, you're invited to witness the passion...

THE PASSION is an erotic and intense saga of love and betrayal; a story of those who walk the line between man and beast. On the eve of a brutal murder deep in the quiet elegance of contemporary Manhattan, Alexander Devoncroix, retired ruler of the pack, realizes he has done his son and heir a terrible disservice. He has kept a secret for far too long, and his knowledge may have resulted in death and possibly murder. To unlock the mystery surrounding the gruesome crime, Alexander must finally reveal a tightly guarded chapter in the Devoncroix family history.

We call them werewolves. And in a world in which they hold the positions of power, human and werewolf segregation had become the norm. But for the first time, a human has been accepted by the leaders of the pack. In dazzling nineteenth-century Paris, we meet three pivotal players: the young human Tessa LeGuerre, who falls under the spell of a very powerful, very sensual werewolf; Alexander Devoncroix, the charismatic werewolf who adores humans too well, but whose loyalty is to the pack; and Elise, the imperial leader of the pack who lays claim to Alexander. Beloved "pet" of select members of the pack, Tessa naively embraces all things werewolf an ambition that results in unspeakable tragedy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

It's not easy to do for werewolves what Anne Rice did for vampires, but Boyd seems determined to try in her romantic saga about the hidden world of the loup-garou. After the violent murder of three werewolves in Manhattan, Alexander Devoncroix realizes he must tell his son?heir to his leadership of the pack?the story of his own disastrous love for a human. In a flashback to 1897 Paris, 28-year-old Tessa LeGuerre attempts to kill Alexander in revenge for his having let her father die on an expedition in the American wilderness. She fails and falls in love with Alexander, while he introduces her to the world of werewolves?who, neither half-wolf nor half-human, are superior animals who designed the pyramids, live hundred of years and secretly control human civilization. As Tessa comes to appreciate werewolf arrogance toward mere humanity, Alexander introduces her to the werewolf queen Elise, and Tessa becomes enmeshed in the evil plots of Alexander's brother Denis?with terrible consequences for everyone involved. There is as much of Beauty and the Beast in this story as there is of Rice's vampire world, but the Passion itself (the werewolf's greatest pleasure and weakness) provides a strong erotic punch. Readers will crave another novel set in this magical realm.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

A horror/love story dealing with werewolves and offering some of the density of background found in the best vampire fiction. Opening with a quickly satisfying weave, this talented newcomer though never as stylish as Angela Carter (the incomparable wolf, werewolf, and Beauty and the Beast tales of Burning Your Boats, etc.), does know how to keep a tale moving. Boyds tale begins when a massacre of three distinguished werewolves in a Fifth Avenue mansion prompts elderly, charismatic pack leader Alexander Devoncroix, now 120 years old, to tell his son, Nicholas Antonov Devoncroix, the full story behind the werewolf-owned, $30-billion financial and industrial Devoncroix Corporation. Back in the 1890s, it seems, Alexander fell in love with a human, Tessa LeGuerre, who tried to murder him in his bed but then was taken under his wing, made his ward, and eventually was brought to know the hidden werewolf society as no other human knew it. Werewolves in human form, she discovered, run much of the world, having made most of the great advances in science and technology. And they try, despite provocations, to coexist quietly with the far less intelligent human species. Tessa also learns that the act of transformation from human to werewolf--known as ``the passion''is a uniquely transcendent experience. A human-werewolf hybrid cannot exist in nature: The sex act would be too powerful for a human female to sustain, since during werewolf sex the total life-experience of each partner is exchanged in orgasm. This forbidden love, Tessa is warned, would turn her to cinders. As Boyd spins out her novel, werewolf society is split between the Devoncroix and the Siberian-based Dark Brotherhood, led by Alexander's brother Denis, who wants to rid the world entirely of pathetic, useless Homo sapiens and let werewolves rule supreme. Then, however, human-hating Denis himself falls in love with Tessa. . . . First installment of a series, and a promising one, in which animal instincts are plumbed and superfine senses evoked with great originality. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 387 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380974495
• ISBN-13: 978-0380974498
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,261,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SOMETHING TO HOWL ABOUT..., July 24, 2000

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Passion (Hardcover)

Compelling, absorbing, and lyrical... Ms. Boyd can sure tell a story. She spins a tale of a subculture of urbane werewolves that exist and live amidst humans, unbeknownst to most of them. They are wealthy, elegant, intelligent, well-educated, and powerful: the consummate "beautiful people" known as the Devoncroix clan.

It is a story that is sinuous in its imagery and sensual in its use of language. The author expertly weaves the tale of Alexander, head of the Devoncroix clan, and his connection to the all too human Tessa. It is Tessa's fascination with Alexander and his fascination with her that is at the heart of this novel.

The author's description of werewolves and their subculture is intriguing and spellbinding. She draws you in and before you know it, you are caught: hook, line, and sinker. You dread coming to the end of the book, and when you do, you cannot wait to go out and get the sequel. Anne Rice, beware! Here comes the heir apparent. Anyway, the book is a great read.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Drama, more than horror, December 30, 2002

By 

Overquoted (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Passion (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is an amazing read but also extremely distressing(at least for me). Part of the book made me cry for half an hour. It is not a romance at all. In fact, if you're expecting romance, don't read this. The book was well-written and caught hold of my emotions with a strangling grip. The characters were flawed, as all of us are, which somehow made the book better. It is an engrossing story and you will not be able to put it down until you're done. Wonderful thing to have when you want to ignore the outside world for a time(like perhaps in a noisy situation with nothing to do--schools, airports).

I must say this, I tend to be sensitive to rape situations in books. For those like me, it might be a good idea to skip over this as the author does a fairly graphic and horrifying description of it at one point. If I'd known of this before I read the book, I'd have still read it(it's that great) but...I know better than to think others would do the same.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mezmerizing Read, December 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Passion (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading the reviews here on this website, I immediately went out and bought both The Passion and The Promise. After devouring The Passion, I must say that the writing is first rate, which is the reason I gave five stars. I didn't want to stop until I was finished. Donna Boyd truly deserves the praise.

But, I must say, that because I am one, I became really offended at the way Tessa, the human, was treated by the werewolves, and especially by Alexander. How could he say he loved Tessa at all and then treat her so harshly. He knew Tessa's love for him was as a human woman for a human man - especially since his werewolf wife, Elise all but gave him options at the sentencing other than to commit her to exile to Alaska where he knew she probably would not survive? His brother, Denis, became the more sympathetic figure for me. I was overjoyed that Alexander and Elise lost their firstborn. Maybe I'm being too critical, but maybe Ms. Boyd could have taken us into Alexander's mind during the time of Denis and Tessa's dangerous schlep across Alaska and for us to see how tormented he was by his decision. It would have given me satisfaction. The elitist attitude of the werewolves to the very end also became annoying to me.

I am a fan of Happily Ever After. If you are, too, then this isn't the book for you, but if you are into a good read, then by all means, buy it.

All that said, I finished the book in two days, I just couldn't stop reading - The Promise is just waiting to be read -- and isn't that what books are all about?