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Description edit
The vampire Darius fears for the life of his half-breed daughter, who is unaware of her unusual destiny. To oversee her transformation, Darius seeks help from Wrath, a dangerous loner and the world's only purebred vampire.
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There also exists a secret band of brothers like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Among them, none relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Wrath: The last purebred vampire on the planet and the vampire race's king. Essentially blind, he is the leader who is not willing to lead until he is forced.
- Beth Randall: Daughter of Darius, Beth is a half human/half vampire about to go through the transition. She is a reporter at the Caldwell Courier Journal.
- Boo: Beth's black cat.
- Billy Riddle: Son of Senator William Riddle.
- Fritz Perlmutter: Initially Darius' doggen, butler extraordinaire.
- Havers: Doctor to the race, blooded son of Wallen, brother to Marissa.
- Marissa: Blooded daughter of Wallen, sister to Havers the race's physician. Wrath's first shellan.
- Phury: Member of the Brotherhood. Son of Aghony and Zsadist's twin.
- Vishous: Red Sox fan, very intelligent and is tech-savvy. Most intelligent among the Brothers. Member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood
- Zsadist: Member of the Brotherhood. Twin brother of Phury. Had been kidnapped as an infant and was a blood slave.
- Rhage: Son of Tohrture, member of the Brotherhood. Was dubbed by the others as Hollywood because of his good looks.
- Wellesandra: Blooded daughter of Relix, mated to the Black Dagger Warrior, Tohrment. Wellsie is her nickname.
- Tohrment: Son of Hharm, member of Brotherhood. Essentially, second-in-command of the Brotherhood. Married to Wellsie/Wellasandra.
- Darius: Son of Marklon, son of Horusman. Warrior of BDB, father to Beth. A Princeps
- Mr. X: Fore-lesser, leader of the Lessening Society. Inducted into Lessening Society when he was 17 years old.
- Butch O'Neal: "Brian O'Neal" - Homicide Detective with the Caldwell Police Department.
- José de la Cruz: Detective with the Caldwell Police Department, friend of Beth. Friend of Butch O'Neal.
- Dick the Prick: Beth's boss at the newspaper, Caldwell Courier Journal
- Cherry Pie: Real name Mary Mulcahy. A prostitute.
- Abby: Bartender at McGrider's. Butch's occasional pick-up
- The Scribe Virgin: A goddess who was granted one act of creation and used it to create the Vampire Race. 'Analisse'
Quotes edit
-
“If you're going to bloody the human, would you be good enough to do it in the backyard?”
Fritz to the Brotherhood about Butch -
“Would you like me to give you a ride home?" he asked. Only if it were raining thumbtacks and hairpins, you letch.”
Dick / Beth's thoughts -
“Welcome to the wonderful world of jealousy, he thought. For the price of admission, you get a splitting headache, a nearly irresistible urge to commit murder, and an inferiority complex. Yippee.”
Wrath -
“Get out of my sight before I get out my knife!”
Zsadist -
“Beth Randall, this is Rhage. An associate of mine. Rhage, this is Beth, and she doesn't do movie stars, got it?”
Wrath -
“Nobody kills the human but me.”
Wrath to the Brotherhood about Butch -
“Tell me something, boys. Do you wear that leather to turn each other on? I mean, is it a dick thing with you all?”
Butch drawled to the Brotherhood -
“Blondie's dying to get his hands on me. I can't help it.”
Butch about Rhage -
“So if the chicks won't do you, what makes you think I'd want to?”
Rhage to Butch -
“You know, I kind of like this big dummy.”
Rhage about Butch -
“Yeah, no Tom, Dick, and Harry names for the vampire types. But come on, could you actually imagine some lethal bloodsucker named Howard? Eugene? Oh no, Wallie, please don't bite my-- Holy Christ, he was totally losing it. What time was it?”
Butch -
“Ah, now, don't get all mushy on me. We ain't dating.”
Butch to Vishous -
“Worship me, gentlemen, and I might let you play with the buttons.”
Vishous -
“I'm going to talk to her." "And how's that going to go? You're just going to walk up to her and say, 'Hey, I know you've never seen me before, but I'm your dad. Oh, and guess what? You've won the evolutionary lottery: You're a vampire. Let's go to Disneyland !'”
Darius to Tohrment -
“I'll cab it home." "Naw. I'll hang until you're through. Then I'll drag you back to your apartment. Watch you throw up for an hour. Push you into bed. Before I leave I'll get the coffee machine set up. Aspirin will be right next to the sugar bowl.”
Butch & Jose -
“If he'd been a gentleman, he'd have left her alone. Yeah, and when was the last time he'd lived up to his pedigree?”
Wrath -
“Ah, hell. The female did something to his brain. Somehow managed to unplug his well developed self-control and put him in touch with his inner fricking psycho. It was a connection he wanted to avoid. After all, fits of insanity were Rhage's specialty. And the brothers didn't need another hair-trigger loose cannon in the group.”
Wrath -
“Man, he wasn't going to need a stress test anytime soon. If his heart could get through a kiss from her, he could probably run a marathon. While dragging a car behind him. Sideways to the road.”
Butch -
“Come on, man. What does it matter to me? You, Tohr. Britney Spears." "Was that a joke, Z? After all this time, have you finally found your sense of humor? Hell, you're giving me another reason to live.”
Zsadist & Wrath -
“You don't know this yet," he said grimly. "But you are mine.”
Wrath -
“Don't trust me. Don't like me. I could give a shit. But don't you ever lie to me.”
Wrath -
“Perfect date material, she thought. A vampire with the social equivalent of road rage.”
Beth about Wrath -
“Hey, they like you." "And thank God for that”
Wrath and Beth -
“You've won the evolutionary lottery: You're a vampire. Let's go to Disneyland!”
Tohrment
Setting & Locations edit
- Caldwell, New York: the city where the action takes place.
- Screamer's: Night club in downtown Caldwell
- Darius's house: The Brotherhoods HQ.
- ZeroSum
- McGrider's Bar
- The Tomb: Sacred vault of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Used as a ceremonial site as well as a storage facility for the jars of lessers. Ceremonies performed there include inductions, funerals, and disciplinary actions against Brothers. No one may enter except for members of the Brotherhood, the Scribe Virgin, or candidates for induction.
- The Fade: Nontemporal realm where the dead reunite with their loved ones and pass eternity.
- Dhunhd: Hell.
- Caldwell Courier Journal: City newspaper. Where Beth works
- Caldwell Martial Arts Academy: Front for the Lessers
Organizations edit
- Black Dagger Brotherhood: Highly trained vampire warriors who protect their species against the Lessening Society. As a result of selective breeding within the race, Brothers possess immense physical and mental strength, as well as rapid healing capabilities. They are not siblings for the most part, and are inducted into the Brotherhood upon nomination by the Brothers. Aggressive, self-reliant, and secretive by nature, they exist apart from civilians, having little contact with members of other classes expect when they need to feed. They are subjects of legend and the object of reverence within the vampire world. They may be killed only by the most serious of wounds.
- Lessening Society: Group of undead trying to rid the world of Vampires
- Caldwell Courier Journal: Newspaper where Beth is a reporter
First Sentence edit
Darius looked around the club, taking in the teeming, half-naked bodies on the dance floor.
Table of Contents edit
Chapter 1 - 55
Epilogue
Glossary edit
- Ahstrux Nohtrum: Private guard with license to kill who is granted his or her position by the king.
- Ahvenge: To commit an act of mortal retribution, carried out typically by a male loved one.
- Black Dagger Brotherhood: Highly trained vampire warriors who protect their species against the Lessening Society. As a result of selective breeding within the race, Brothers possess immense physical and mental strength, as well as rapid healing capabilities. They are not siblings for the most part, and are inducted into the Brotherhood upon nomination by the Brothers. Aggressive, self-reliant, and secretive by nature, they exist apart from civilians, having little contact with members of other classes expect when they need to feed. They are subjects of legend and the object of reverence within the vampire world. They may be killed only by the most serious of wounds.
- Blood Slave: male or female vampire who has been subjugated to serve the blood needs of another. The practice of keeping blood slaves has recently been outlawed.
- The Chosen: Female vampires who have been bred to serve the Scribe Virgin. They are considered members of the aristocracy, though they are spiritually rather than temporally focused. They have little or no interaction with males, but can be mater to Brothers at the Scribe Virgin's direction to propagate their class. Some have the ability to prognosticate. In the past, they were used to meet the blood needs of unmated members of the Brotherhood, and thatpractice has been reinstated by the Brothers.
- Chrih: Symbol of honorable death in the Old Language.
- Cohntehst: Conflict between two males competing for the right to be a female's mate.
- Dhunhd: Hell.
- Doggen: Member of the servant class within the vampire world. Doggen have old, conservative traditions about service to their superiors, following a formal code of dress and behavior. They are able to go out during the day, but they age relatively quickly. Life expectancy is approximately five hundred years.
- Ehros: A Chosen trained in the matter of sexual arts.
- Exhile Dhoble: The evil or cursed twin, the one born second.
- The Fade: Nontemporal realm where the dead reunite with their loved ones and pass eternity.
- First Family: The King and Queen of the vampires, and any children they may have.
- Ghardian: Custodian of an individual. There are varying degrees of ghardians, with the most powerful being that of a sehcluded female.
- Glymera: The social core of the aristocracy, roughly equivalent to Regency England's ton.
- Hellren: Male vampire who has been mated to a female. Males may take more than one female as mate.
- Leahdyre: A person of power and influence.
- Leelan: A term of endearment loosely translated as 'dearest one'.
- Lessening Society: Order of the slayers convened by the Omega for the purpose of eradicating the vampire species.
- Lesser: De-souled human who targets vampires for extermination as a member of the Lessening Society. Lessers must be stabbed through the chest in order to be killed; otherwise they are ageless. They do not eat or drink and are impotent. Over time, their hair, skin, and irises lose pigmentation until they are blond, blushless, and pale-eyed. They smell like baby powder. Inducted into the society by the Omega, they retain a ceramic jar thereafter into which their heart was placed after it was removed.
- Lewlhen: Gift.
- Lheage: A term of respect used by a sexual submissive to refer to her dominant.
- Lys: Torture tool used to remove the eyes.
- Mhis: The masking of a given physical environment; the creation of a field of illusion.
- Nalla (f) Nallum (m): Beloved.
- Needing Period: Female vampire's time of fertility, generally lasting for two days and accompanied by intense sexual cravings. Occurs approximately five years after a female's transition and then once a decade thereafter. all males respond to some degree if they are around a female in her need. It can be a dangerous time, with conflicts and fights breaking out between competing males, particularly if the female is not mated.
- Newling: A virgin.
- The Omega: Malevolent, mystical figure who has targeted the vampires for extinction out of resentment directed towards the Scribe Virgin. Exists in a nontemporal realm and has extensive powers, though not the power of creation.
- Phearsom: Term referring to the potency of a male's sexual organs. Literal translation something close to "worthy of entering a female".
- Princeps: Highest level of vampire aristocracy, second only to the members of the First Family or the Scribe Virgin's Chosen. Must be born to the title; it may not be conferred.
- Pyrocant: Refers to a critical weakness in an individual. The weakness can be internal, such as an addiction, or external, such as a lover.
- Rahlman: Savior.
- Rythe: Ritual manner of assuaging honor granted by one who has offended another. If accepted, the offended chooses a weapon and strikes the offender, who presents him- or herself- without defenses.
- The Scribe Virgin: Mystical force who is counselor to the King as well as the keeper of vampire archives and the dispenser of privileges. Exist in a nontemporal realm and has extensive powers. Capable of a single act of creation, which she expended to bring the vampires into existence.
- Sehclusion: Status conferred by the King upon a female of the aristocracy as a result of a petition by the female's family. Places the female under the sole direction of her ghardian, typically the eldest male in her household. Her ghardian then has the legal right to determine all manner of her life, restricting at will any and all interactions she has with the world.
- Shellan: Female vampire who has been mated to a male. Females generally do not take more than one mate due to the highly territorial nature of bonded males.
- Symphath: Subspecies within the vampire race characterized by the ability and desire to manipulate emotions in others (for the purposes of an energy exchange), among other traits. Historically, they have been discriminated against and, during certain eras, hunted by vampires. They are near extinction.
- The Tomb: Sacred vault of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Used as a ceremonial site as well as a storage facility for the jars of lessers. Ceremonies performed there include inductions, funerals, and disciplinary actions against Brothers. No one may enter except for members of the Brotherhood, the Scribe Virgin, or candidates for induction.
- Trahyner: Word used between males of mutual respect and affection. Translated loosely to "beloved friend".
- Transition: Critical moment in a vampire's life when he or she transforms into an adult. Thereafter, he or she must drink the blood of the opposite sex to survive and is unable to withstand sunlight. Occurs generally int he mid-twenties. Some vampires do not survive their transitions, males in particular. Prior to their transitions, vampires are physically weak, sexually unaware and unresponsive, and unable to dematerialize.
- Vampire: Member of a species separate from that of homo sapiens. Vampires must drink the blood of the opposite sex to survive. Human blood will keep them alive, though the strength does not last long. Following their transitions, which occur in their mid-twenties, they are unable to go out into the sunlight and must feed from the vein regularly. Vampires cannot "convert" humans through a bite or transfer of blood, though they are in a rare cases able to breed with other species. Vampires can dematerialize at will, though they must be able to calm themselves and concentrate to do so and may not carry anything heavy with them. They are able to strip the memories of humans, provided such memories are short term. Some vampires are able to read minds. Life expectancy is upward of a thousand years, or in some cases even longer.
- Wahlker: An individual who has died and returned to the living from the Fade. They are accorded great respect and are revered for their travails.
- Whard: Equivalent of a godfather or godmother to an individual.
Series & Lists edit
This is book 1 of 13 in Black Dagger Brotherhood. (standard series)
Followed by Lover Eternal.
This is book 27 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2007. (authoritative list)
This book is in Vampire (community list). (community list)
This is book 1 of 13 in Black Dagger Brotherhood (Reading Order). (standard series)
Followed by Lover Eternal.
This is book 76 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2010. (authoritative list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- J. R. Ward (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Signet Book
Country: USA
Publication Date: August 31, 2005
ISBN: 0451216954
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Signet Book
Country: USA
Publication Date: August 31, 2005
ISBN: 0451216954
Page Count: 416
Awards edit
- Sapphire Award For The Best Science Fiction Romance Of The Year (2006: Novel, #1)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: CPB Box no. 2387 vol. 9
- Dewey: 813.6
Subjects edit
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