Search - Drink Deep (Chicagoland Vampires, Bk 5)

The beginning, I was excited! 50 pages in, BORED! I honestly skipped til 2/3 of the way in. Last 1/3, Fantasatic!!!

Definitely not my fave, but I just wanted to know the result of You Know Who!!! This book didn't really do anything for me, but I am super excited for the next book, I really Love where its goin now :)

Of course this is a must read, but sadly it's not up to Neill's regular caliber :(

Clouds are brewing over Cadogan House, and recently turned vampire Merit can't tell if this is the darkness before the dawn or the calm before the storm. With the city itself in turmoil over paranormals and the state threatening to pass a paranormal registration act, times haven't been this precarious for vampires since they came out of the closet. If only they could lay low for a bit, and let the mortals calm down.

That's when the waters of Lake Michigan suddenly turn pitch black-and things really start getting ugly.

Chicago's mayor insists it's nothing to worry about, but Merit knows only the darkest magic could have woven a spell powerful enough to change the very fabric of nature. She'll have to turn to friends old and new to find out who's behind this, and stop them before it's too late for vampires and humans alike.



*****

Wow, you really have to appreciate the supernatural world. Only then can things you never imagined would happen, actually happen. The rules that govern humans and the "normal" world don't apply, and sometimes that makes everything alright again. I managed to NOT read any spoilers about this book, and I'm so happy I did. As usual, Merit's world is in utter chaos, Chicago is under some kind of magic trauma. The lake turns black, the sky turns red, and the earth starts popping up like mini-mountains in the middle of downtown. There is a new mayor in town, and she is a real b*tch! Tate is in prison, but we still don't know what he trully is, and the "bad guy" in this story......I didn't see coming until the last 1/4 of the book. The middle of the story is slow going, whether it was because I was in a hurry to get to the end, I don't know. But I really, really want to scream out my happiness about this book (at least the ending). But I really, really don't want to give any spoilers away. So i will leave you with this, Neill has a way of spinning us in a different direction with each book, and this one sounds like it is going to send Merit off into a whole new adventure for the next one. I can't wait!!


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This is the fifth book in the Chicagoland Vampires series. It did a good job of mending some of the disappointment (gut wrenching sadness and anger) that I felt at the end of Hard Bitten. This review is spoiler free for Drink Deep but does contain some spoilers for Hard Bitten...so if you haven’t read Hard Bitten yet...well you’ve been warned. The sixth book in this series, Biting Cold, is scheduled for an August 2012 release.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook (like all the previous ones) was incredibly well done. I highly recommend this series on audiobook.

---Spoilers for Hard Bitten Ahead!!!----

Merit and Cadogan House are still reeling from Ethan’s death in Drink Deep. Cadogan House has a Greenwich Presidium representative mucking around in House business and generally making everyone’s lives miserable. Then things really start getting crazy; the lake turns black and starts sucking in magic and then the skies over Chicago turn red. With public opinion about vampires at an all time low Merit has to figure out the mystery behind the strange happenings if she is both going to save her race and Chicago.

This book was a lot darker in tone, the characters obviously haven’t recovered from the events in Hard Bitten, and there is a huge hole where Ethan should be. Everyone is more than a little glum and this book didn’t have the fun of previous books. Things also move a bit slower in this book and there isn’t as much action as in previous installments.

Jonah really comes to the forefront of this story. Him and Merit end up partnering on a number of investigations because Cadogan House is short on guards. I really enjoyed him as a character; he was the one character who did have some fun banter back and forth with Merit. Merit grows some as a character and is forced to decide what Cadogan House means to her minus Ethan. We also see more of Tate off and on in this book.

As I said this is a dark book and most of the characters are going through some emotional turmoil. Mallory was in the story some and I usually love her character; but her character was devoid of any humor and took some very dark turns in this book.

The book ends well, with some big surprises that should please fans of the series. If you were going to give up on the series after Hard Bitten I recommend reading this book. It is kind of a transition book, but the continuing storyline looks very intriguing.

Overall a decent addition to the series. Much darker than previous books and slower moving. Jonah plays a much bigger role in the story and Merit does show some growth as a character as well. Recommended to fans of vampire urban fantasy. I can’t wait to see what happens in Biting Cold.

This was my least favorite installment of the Chicagoland Vamp series. I found it predictable and boring. And really? This ending was almost worse then the last book. Hopefully the next book will be better.