Thirst [Mass Market Paperback]

Micheal Cecilione (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

Cassandra Hall's seductive new lover leads her on an odyssey into a mysterious and erotic depths of passion, as she finds herself caught in a terrifying triangle that could doom her earthly soul, hunted by mortals and vampires alike. Original.

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

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle Books (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786015993
• ISBN-13: 978-0786015993
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 3.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #910,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bedtime tale for the kids, March 6, 2001

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Thirst (Mass Market Paperback)

"...the first thing I did was to lick the awful blossom of blood on the wall, red and black as the sinisterly sensual poppies of Georgia O'Keefe. I licked until I'd cleaned a place on the wall ... The old blood flaked off metallic and lifeless on my desperate tongue."

Such is the hunger of a vampire on the run, forced to take refuge in a derelict New York tenement, when a cheeseburger and fries aren't an option.

THIRST, like Michael Cecilione's previous work, MUSE, is the first-person story of a young woman whose unfulfilled sexual needs get her into hot water. In this case, Cassandra Hall narrates the storyline from two different perspectives in time, moving back and forth in alternating chapters. In one, she's a former, struggling window-dresser describing the events preceding and immediately subsequent to her transformation into a vampire by the tall, pale and handsome bloodsucker, Julian, who seduces her. In the second, it's a couple of years after her reincarnation, and she's on the run from the Advocates, a group of religious fanatics dedicated to ridding the world of the Undead, and from the Arbiters, an ancient race, alien to Earth, from whose mating with humans produced human vampires. In modern times, the Arbiters police the planet killing those of their unnatural progeny that have broken some sort of Vampire Law. (Cassandra's transgression remains only vaguely described, but it scarcely matters as the Arbiters never play major roles in the plot. The author's editor didn't do his job.) In any case, the two timelines merge at the end.

In MUSE, given a five-star rating by me on this website, the conclusion is devilishly clever and in-synch with the rest of the story. Unfortunately, while THIRST is a so-so horror fable, its finale almost seems more befitting another plot entirely. It's like Cecilione realized he needed to wrap it up, but didn't quite know how to manage it. Maybe it was pressure from the publisher to rush the novel into print that caused this lurch.

In case you're looking for a bedtime story to read the kids, this isn't it unless they're awfully precocious. The author has peppered the text with graphic scenes of violence, sex, and violent sex that are arguably gratuitous in nature. I suspect that, without them, Cecilione's manuscript would've made it only as far as his publisher's circular file.

Definitely a disappointment. Next!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great vamp reading, April 1, 2000

By 

mellion108 (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Thirst (Mass Market Paperback)

Cecilione's writing is wonderful. Reading this was almost like watching a movie. Cassandra Hall as the narrator/vampire makes for an interesting character. She takes us through a roller-coaster of emotions from the somewhat shy, idealistic small-town girl in the big city to the jaded experienced vampire fighting for survival. Each chapter alternates from pre to post Cassandra-as-vampire until it finally reaches the present.

In between, this novel introduces vampire and human charactes with all their quirks. There are some interesting twists to the vamp myth, but nothing too outrageous. This novel also pulls heavily from BDSM themes, something rather unusual for "mainstream" novels. There is sex, and a lot of it in a variety of ways. But, pardon the pun, it is mostly done tastefully. LOL Don't get your hopes up; this isn't a porn novel, but read it with an open mind regarding bondage and S/m as this is merely a way to illustrate the lifestyle of the novel's vampires in their attempt to simulate some human feelings or perhaps to revel in their immortality.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. It is very well written, and I can never resist a vampire novel anyway. If you are into the vamp genre, or if you like intelligent, interesting horror, buy this now!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read., November 30, 1998

By 

Ilker Yucel ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thirst (Mass Market Paperback)

Perhaps not as erotic as Anne Rice's books are, but it gets pretty good in this well-written book. Sometimes the reading gets confused as every other chapter shifts between the main character before and after she was a vampire. Nonetheless, that adds to the atmosphere. Nothing new in the vampire mythology is added, but overall the book is a good read, worthy of your time. Give it a look.