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Description edit
In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly war raging between vampires and their slayers. And there exists a secret band of brothers like no other - six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Of these, Zsadist is the most terrifying member of the Black Dagger... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowner for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by vampire and humans. Terror is his only passion and anger his only companion-until he rescues a... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters edit
- Zsadist: A former blood slave, who is the most sinister and terrifying of the brothers. Twin brother of Phury. Kidnapped when he was an infant.
- Bella: Zsadist's shellan and Rehvenge's sister.
- John Matthew: Mute boy who turns out to be a vampire in the waking. Staying with Tohr and Wellsie.
- Phury: Member of the Brotherhood. Zsadist twin brother
- Butch O'Neal: Ex cop, one of the rare humans to know about the existence of the brotherhood. Best friend of Vishous.
- Tohrment: "Tohr" - leader of the Brotherhood and Wellsie's hellren. Surrogate father to John Matthew.
- Marissa: A vampire of noble breeding. Sister to Havers, the doctor of the vampire world.
- Wellesandra: "Wellsie" - Tohr's shellan. Surrogate mother to John Matthew.
- Havers: Marissa's brother. Doctor of the vampire race.
- Mary Luce: Rhage's shellan. She's the only one able to tame the beast in him.
- Rhage: Member of the Brotherhood. Cursed with a beast living within him, that come forth every time he loses control. Extremely attractive and nicknamed Hollywood.
- Fritz Perlmutter: Doggen of the Brothers. Butler extraordinaire.
- Rehvenge: A half-sympath. Bella's brother.
- David Ormand or "O": Lesser that kidnapped Bella and is obsessed with her. Doesn't like 'paling out' so he colours his hair.
- Beth Randall: Wrath's Shellan. Queen of the Vampires. Darius' half-vampire daughter.
- Sarelle: Wellsie's niece and friend of John's
- Vishous: The most intelligent of the Brothers and Butch's best friend.
- Blaylock: Trainee vampire with the Brotherhood
- Catronia: Zsadist's Mistress while he was a blood slave.
- Wrath: King of all vampires. He is the last purebred vampire alive and member of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
- The Scribe Virgin: The mother of all vampires.
- Madalina: Rehvenge and Bella's mother. A Chosen.
- U: O's go-to lesser, his #2
Quotes edit
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“"Don't take me away from him." Her voice cracked from pleading.”
Bella -
“"Fuck off. I've crashed."”
Zsadist -
“"I am sick. I am disgusting. I can't be trusted. Just because you've got half a brain and have figured that out doesn't mean you need to stroke my ass with this apology bullshit."”
Zsadist to Phury -
“Z: "I got you clothes and a parka. The bottle of shampoo that was in your shower. A brush. Shoes. Socks to keep your feet warm.Your diary, too-don't worry, I haven't read it or anything." Bella:"I'd be surprised if you had. You're more trustworthy than that." Z: "No, I'm illiterate."”
Zsadist & Bella -
“Bella: "I love you." Z squeezed his eyes shut. "Don't be a tragedy, Bella."”
Bella & Zsadist -
“"How... What happened?" "UAH-Hugh, right. Let me count all the ways you and I aren't going there."”
Phury & Zsadist -
“"I was dead until you found me, though I breathed. I was sightless, though I could see. And then you came...and I was awakened."”
Zsadist -
“"Phury?""No, I'm not gay." "Don't feel like you need to hide it or anything.""I wouldn't. I'm just not.""You bi, then?""Butch drop it."”
Butch and Phury -
“Holy shit, this was trouble—of the bury-your-dead variety. Two bonded males tied to the same female were a lethal combination to begin with. Make that two warriors and you had the potential for serious injury.”
Phury -
“Phury? Phury… what's happened to me?" "Welcome back, my brother.”
Zsadist & Phury -
“And that was when he fell over in a dead faint.”
Zsadist -
“Bella: "Then why are you wearing that bandage like a sash?"Phury: "It makes my ass look smaller."”
Bella & Phury
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“I was dead until you found me, though I breathed. I was sightless, though I could see. And then you came…and I was awakened.”
Highlighted by 333 Kindle customers -
Sometimes your whole life could hinge on a fraction of an inch. Or the beat of a nanosecond. Or the knock on a door.
Highlighted by 183 Kindle customers -
want in one hand, shit in the other—see what you get the most of.”
Highlighted by 74 Kindle customers -
“She is more beautiful than I have words for.” He lifted his eyes to Phury’s. “And last night I was blessed beyond measure to serve her.”
Highlighted by 73 Kindle customers -
He knew he was being overbearing as hell, but he couldn’t help it. He was a bonded male. With his pregnant female. There were few things on the planet more aggressive or dangerous. And those bastards were called hurricanes and tornadoes.
Highlighted by 69 Kindle customers -
Good? No, that didn’t go far enough. She’d made him feel…alive. Awakened.
Highlighted by 66 Kindle customers -
You are in a prison with no bars. I worry about you. Phury blinked, caught in an odd kind of time warp. Someone else had said those very things to him…. Just last summer.
Highlighted by 41 Kindle customers -
misogyny…hell, he was feared for it. Why Bella mattered to him was anyone’s guess.
Highlighted by 38 Kindle customers -
Phury shook his head. “Don’t even try. I can taste it.” Amethyst eyes narrowed. “The politically correct term is symphath.”
Highlighted by 19 Kindle customers -
symphath behavior. “We’re going to strike a little deal,” Phury said, glaring hard into that violet stare. “I keep quiet and you stay on the down-low. You also don’t try to fuck with me again. I’m not going to roll over for you sucking on my emotions, which was what you were doing right now, wasn’t it? You wanted me irate because you were hungry for the feeling.”
Highlighted by 9 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
- Caldwell, New York
- ZeroSum
- Screamer's
- 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.
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: Order of the slayers convened by the Omega for the purpose of eradicating the vampire species.
First Sentence edit
"Goddamn it, Zsadist! Don't jump..."
Table of Contents edit
Chapter 1 - 50
Epilogue
Glossary edit
- Ahstrux Nohtrum: Private guard with license to kill who is granted his or her position by the king.
- Ahvenge: 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 largely been discontinued, though it has not 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
- 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 3 of 12 in Black Dagger Brotherhood. (standard series)
Preceded by Lover Eternal, and followed by Lover Revealed.
This is book 11 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2007. (authoritative list)
Preceded by The Viscount Who Loved Me, and followed by Mr. Impossible.
This is book 27 of 100 in AAR Top 100 Romances 2010. (authoritative list)
Preceded by It Happened One Autumn, and followed by Nobody's Baby But Mine.
Authors & Contributors edit
- J. R. Ward (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Signet
Country: USA
Publication Date: September 5, 2006
ISBN: 0451219368
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Signet
Country: USA
Publication Date: September 5, 2006
ISBN: 0451219368
Page Count: 416
Awards edit
- Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards (2006: Vampire Romance)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: CPB Box no. 2694 vol. 14 Copyright Pbk Coll FT MEADE
- Dewey: 813
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
- J. R. Ward - The Black Dagger Brotherhood: Excerpt from Lover Awakened
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