Dark Thirst [Paperback]

Dark Thirst is a distinctive collection of six short stories that focuses on vampires and their victims of color in varying eras and circumstances. However, the central theme uniting the stories is the ugly consequences of their existence - a hunger for blood that is never sated, the clandestine lifestyle necessary for survival, and the bouts of loneliness that eternal life brings as they lurk incessantly throughout the night. The stories are authored by some of today's popular writers and a few newcomers - each with a different slant on the age old villain:

* The Ultimate Diet (Monica Jackson) - an overweight woman envies a svelte, beautiful woman who appears to eat all she wants and never gains a pound. After discovering the secret of success, she loses weight and much more,

* Vamp Noir (Angela C. Allen) - one of my favorite stories in the book is about a black, female vampire who is an enforcer for the mob but has her own hidden agenda,

* Human Heat: The Confessions of an Addicted Vampire (The Urban Griot/Omar Tyree) - another one of my favorites in which an old-school, New Orleans Creole "Casanova" scorns a lover's advice and develops an addiction to a highly dangerous and callow blood source with disastrous results,

* Whispers During Still Moments (Linda Addison) - a half-human vampire hunter struggles to battle a First and save himself and his love,

* The Touch (Donna Hill) - a sensual tale in which a sophisticated vampire is running out of time in which to find her human soul mate,

* The Family Business (Kevin S. Brockenbrough) - and the best was saved for last (in my opinion), this is a page-turning story of monsters in the `hood - were werewolves and vampires collide and a battered mother's love prevails.

There's something here for everyone spanning from hip-hop to old school and romance to touches of erotica with splashes of horror and gore thrown in - because it is after all a collection of vampire tales. Overall, this book is surprisingly entertaining - vampire fans should find mild if not total enjoyment from what is presented.

Reviewed by Phyllis

APOOO BookClub

Nubian Circle Book Club

DARK THIRST is a very eclectic mix of the increasingly popular genre of vampire lore. Noted authors, Donna Hill, Monica Jackson and Omar Tyree, have stepped out of their respective genres to pen the odd mix of science fiction which include threads of romance, comedy and urban fiction.

The most memorable of the six short stories is Monica Jackson's 'The Ultimate Diet'. The storyline is hilarious from beginning to end. I volleyed between laughing out loud and pure shock. The main character Keeshia wants to lose weight and become as sultry as her mysterious neighbor, without the hard work of diet and exercise. When she finds out her neighbor's secret, she will stop at nothing to achieve the image she so covets.

Donna Hill's 'The Touch' is a dangerously sensuous tale of a vampire looking for her one true love. Selena has learned that sexual release can keep her bloodlust at bay, but not for long. She must find the one man who can put her fire out and keep it out. I enjoyed the romantic twist to the typically bloodthirsty vampire story.

Kevin S. Brokenbrough takes it to the streets in 'The Family Business'. A street punk abuses his wife and son and is dealt with in the most heinous fashion for the pain he has caused them. Shelly has a family secret that allows her to fight back when she can no longer take the abuse. At times this story was so out of the ordinary, even for science fiction, I would question what is going on here, but I could not stop reading. I had to know what happened next

Three memorable stories out of six is not bad, but it averages out to be just that, average. The three remaining short stories did not give me the same emotional response to reading them as the one's mentioned above; they were decent, but not memorable. All together it was a great effort, but not great enough to be ranked amongst the best in the genre.

Reviewed by Aiesha Flowers

of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

I would say overall this was a great anthology of black horror writing. However, there were some stories that I enjoyed more than others, which is to be expected. Out of six stories I felt as if only two were not stand-outs.

The Ultimate Diet (Monica Jackson) - This was a great way to start off the book. The story was light, had great humor in it and of course the expectant twist. I even consider it to be one of my favorites. The main character is always in search of a diet when she finds out that her sexy thin neighbor is a vampire she stops at nothing to achieve her goal. I especially loved the twist at the end.

Vamp Noir (Angela C. Allen) - This story is slightly different take on Vamp mythology and it took a while for me to truly get into the story. I feel as if the story could be better suited as a longer short story or novella. I felt as if the length was too short and I wanted to know a little bit more by the end b/c I felt as if there was a lot left out. It just seemed like an intro and not a self contained story. This really is a noir story about the mob and vampires. It has it's share of violence and the update on vampire telepathic abilities was facinicating. Will the character's plan pay off or will the mob discover her secret and kill her first.

Human Heat: The Confessions of an Addicted Vampire (The Urban Griot/Omar Tyree - This was a fascinating tale that I thoroughly enjoyed because of Tyree's set up. I felt like the entire story was a generally good read and even though it was a short story it seemed to cover so much. I actually felt sad for the main male character because as he stated in the beginning of the story women often misunderstood him. This story is thinly about the lost of love and tragegy.

Whispers During Still Moments (Linda Addison)- This was one of my favorite in the series. The storytelling was amazing and I cared about all of the characters. I also liked how she flipped the tale and came up with a unique and different approach to the mythology.

The Touch (Donna Hill)- This was one of my least favorite, by the end I could careless about the protagionist story the sensuality was there but the characters themselves were lacking. I hardly cared for the protagonist who seemed a bit selfish to me, turned at the age of 16 by a vampire who desired her the main character learned how to use her hands to get the sensation of someone's life force. Using this trick lessened her blood thrist but over the years the trick is starting to wore off and she has to either find her true love or give in to her blood thirsty desires.

The Family Business (Kevin S. Brockenbrough) - This was also another stand-out. The set up was incredible and I only wish there was more. This definitely could have been flushed out much better if it was slightly longer but the storyline is great and it uses the mythology as a metaphor for what could happen in the real world. The main focus of this story is on a werewolf family dealing with the ramifications of an abusive husband and father. After her son was shot the protagonist decides to use her family's secret to help her fight her monstrous husband, but will she succeed.