They Thirst

Robert McCammon

Jan 2012 · Open Road Media

About this ebook

A vampire turns Los Angeles into a city of the dead in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling and Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Swan Song.
 
The Kronsteen castle, a gothic monstrosity, looms over Los Angeles. Built during Hollywood’s golden age for a long-dead screen idol with a taste for the macabre, it stands as a decaying reminder of the past. Since the owner’s murder, no living thing has ever again taken up residence. But it isn’t abandoned. Prince Conrad Vulkan, Hungarian master of the vampires, as old as the centuries, calls it home. His plan is to replace all humankind with his kind. And he’s starting with the psychotic dregs of society in the City of Angels.
 
The number of victims is growing night after night, and so is Vulkan’s legion of the dead. As a glittering city bleeds into a necropolis, a band of vampire hunters takes action: an avenging young boy who saw his parents devoured; a television star whose lover has an affinity for the supernatural; a dying priest chosen by God to defend the world; a female reporter investigating a rash of cemetery desecrations; and LAPD homicide detective Andy Palatazin, an immigrant who survived a vampire attack in his native Hungary when he was child and has been hunting evil across the globe for decades.
 
Palatazin knows that to stop the Prince of Darkness, one must invade his nest. He knows it’s also a suicide mission. But it’s the only way to save the city—and the world—from vampire domination.
 
“Suspenseful, exciting, and visceral,” They Thirst is one of the earliest novels by the versatile author of such masterpieces as Boy’s Life, The Wolf’s Hour, and the Matthew Corbett series (Kirkus Reviews).
 

Ratings and reviews

Robert McCammon has a well deserved reputation for writing books that qualify as literature as well as entertainment. BOYS LIFE and SWAN SONG are two excellent examples. THEY THIRST started off well, in fact, the opening paragraph of the book's first chapter is brilliant. But the writing quality fell away and the first half of the book was hard work. But I persevered and was grateful if only from a horror fan's point of view. The scares were there, the plot became apparent and it was a fun ride. As someone who has never been to LA I can't imagine a worse setting for a vampire novel, and given the scope of what he was trying to do, maybe the book wasn't anywhere near long enough. I am glad the Master is dead, I assume he won't write a sequel, and yet he has left the door slightly ajar in case the winds of fate change direction. I hope he doesn't, but instead writes a whole never vampire novel, set somewhere different. On the east coast, maybe in a small town where everyone knows your name and yet newcomers are welcomed with open arms.

A long read but worth the effort! Scared to turn the page in parts.....chilling!

This is by far one of the best vampire novels ever. Had me thinking about it long after I finished the book.

About the author

One of the founders of the Horror Writers Association, Robert McCammon (b. 1952) is one of the country’s most accomplished authors of modern horror and historical fiction. Raised by his grandparents in Birmingham, Alabama, McCammon published his first novel, the Revelations-inspired Baal, when he was only twenty-six. His writings continued in a supernatural vein throughout the 1980s, producing such bestselling titles as Swan Song, The Wolf’s Hour, and Stinger.   In 1991 Boy’s Life won the World Fantasy Award for best novel. After his next novel, Gone South, McCammon took a break from writing to spend more time with his family. He did not publish another novel until 2002’s Speaks the Nightbird. Since then he has followed “fixer” Matthew Corbett in two sequels, The Queen of Bedlam and Mister Slaughter. His newest novel is The Five. McCammon and his family continue to live in Birmingham.