Lover Awakened

The Barnes & Noble Review
J. R. Ward's third entry in the Black Dagger Brotherhood vampire series (Dark Lover, Lover Eternal) is "all adrenaline all the time," starting from page one. Again, we are back in Caldwell, New York, where a deadly street war continues between the Black Dagger Brotherhood, a band of six vampire warriors, and their enemies. One warrior, Zsadist, is perhaps the fiercest; with his scarred face and shaven skull, he looks like the Grim Reaper, if the Reaper were packing a small arsenal! Not even his twin, Phury, can understand Zsadist's obsession with finding the beautiful Bella, an aristocratic civilian abducted six weeks earlier by the evil Lessening Society.

When Zsadist finds Bella -- and he does -- she has been traumatized by her abduction and feels safe only with him. Their subsequent passionate romance is undeniably one with issues. Zsadist's past as a blood slave, humiliated and sexually abused for centuries, has left deep scars. Bella's abduction fills him with the need for revenge. Still, this is not just a tale of passion between two strong characters; it is also the tale of the two brothers, Zsadist and Phury, who were separated at birth, and their subsequent history.

As in earlier books, Ward adeptly draws the reader into the drama of the secondary characters -- like John, a young vampire pre-transition and his search for self and family, and the human cop, Butch. We trust all will have their own book in the series some day. Ginger Curwen