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Night Thirst
WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN, THE HUNGER BEGINS. Yesterday, they ruled a lonely monastery on a deserted island in the Pacific Northwest. Tonight, an entire city is theirs. They are the New Ones, a thoroughly modem breed of vampire terrifyingly unlike the blood-feeding Ancients who came before them. Now Seattle bursts with the unholy presence of nocturnal predators, for whom the hot, salty liquid from their living victims means not only survival, but superhuman power--and indescribable ecstasy. Those they feed on rise again. They climb from beneath darkened streets, driven by a raging thirst that can never be sated. The humans who hunt them say there is nothing in this world that can't be destroyed. They're wrong...
368 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 14, 2022
Another legendary classic from the late 80s and follow up to The Monastery. Will Braille escape Cutter and the endless tests in the laboratory? What about Gregory? Did he really escape Chinook Island? What about the New Ones threatening Seattle? Is there a cure against the vampire virus (the author has some strong answer if there ever was one)? Quintessential 80s action horror with a secret government agency, a deadly killer and his team, heroic vampires, pollution of the environment, evil villains... reading this captivating novel is like taking a ride in the time machine. Highly recommended tale to enjoy. What a pity that Patrick Whalen stopped writing. Would love to read more about the Ancient and Braille.
December 30, 2025
The sequel to Whalen's Monastery takes a different course but still oozes pulpy goodness. I have had Night Thirst sitting on my shelves for a long time but I waited until I found a copy of Monastery before I read it and I am glad I did. While this could be read as a standalone, especially given the large info dump at the start, I would not recommend it as such.
Night Thrist oscillates among three story arcs, continuing where Monastery ended. First, we have the Ancient vampire Gregory, who somehow survived the nuclear disaster on the island and then built a raft and floated to the Washington coast. Second, we have Braille, who at the end of Monastery discovered he had been turned to a vampire and tried to kill himself, only to be rescued by the Navy. Braille finds himself locked up in a secret governmental research facility and he is the main subject of analysis. Third, another survivor of the island, a 'New one', managed to get to the Washington coast as well, and well, starts to bite people and drink their blood, starting a new wave of vampires, this time in Seattle.
At times, this reads more of a domestic drama than horror. Gregory, still learning about the 20th century, resides in a small town with an old woman and her wild granddaughter. Braille, after managing to escape, lives on a ranch with the widowed female owner and her two small kids. I enjoyed this, but do not expect lots of horror here, although by often switching to the Seattle vampire outbreak, Whalen keeps up with the gore and mayhem. I like Whalen's writing style and the pulpy storylines and I liked this, although not as much as Monastery. 3.5 vampires, rounding up!
Night Thrist oscillates among three story arcs, continuing where Monastery ended. First, we have the Ancient vampire Gregory, who somehow survived the nuclear disaster on the island and then built a raft and floated to the Washington coast. Second, we have Braille, who at the end of Monastery discovered he had been turned to a vampire and tried to kill himself, only to be rescued by the Navy. Braille finds himself locked up in a secret governmental research facility and he is the main subject of analysis. Third, another survivor of the island, a 'New one', managed to get to the Washington coast as well, and well, starts to bite people and drink their blood, starting a new wave of vampires, this time in Seattle.
At times, this reads more of a domestic drama than horror. Gregory, still learning about the 20th century, resides in a small town with an old woman and her wild granddaughter. Braille, after managing to escape, lives on a ranch with the widowed female owner and her two small kids. I enjoyed this, but do not expect lots of horror here, although by often switching to the Seattle vampire outbreak, Whalen keeps up with the gore and mayhem. I like Whalen's writing style and the pulpy storylines and I liked this, although not as much as Monastery. 3.5 vampires, rounding up!
September 2, 2013
The title "Night Thirst" reminded me of Robert Mccammon's excellent early 80's vampire novel "They Thirst". I should have been forewarned. I've read hundreds of horror novels and foreshadowing is something I pay attention to. My worst fears were confirmed 2 pages into the drivel. The opening scene was actually plagiarized from Robert Mccammon's "They Thirst"....Really?
Evil man, in a vampire novel, with "Thirst" in the title, crossing a desert, all alone, speeding at over 90 mph, veers across highway, into the opposite lane, to kill an innocent Jack Rabbit, mission accomplished, he laughs to himself... Muwahahahahah!
You would have thought the author would have substituted a tortoise for a jack rabbit, but no!
I love horror! I'm like a crazy old prospector sifting through mud for a gold nugget. I would have forgiven the lame and limping opening scene, except when the author wasn't plagiarizing he was spewing some of the worst unoriginal crap I've ever read.
Imagine the vampire Dolph Lundgren wielding a tommy gun, with a tall blonde in a bottle bombshell stitched to his side, blasting government agents to smithereens, like so many baby ducks at your local duck pond, and you're only 50 pages into this dismal massacre.
This is the first bad review I've ever written. But not the last, because I like it. This book sucks, and I spent four dollars on this blood sucker. So I'm out to get my pound of flesh. I believe Patrick Whalen's mother and friends are the only living beings that could have given a good review to this waste of pulp and paper. Only a literary masochist could possible survive this balderdash. I would rather crawl a through a kilometer of sewer pipe than read "Night Thirst" again! Then I would have an interest tale to tell. "Green Eggs and Ham" is a literary horror classic compared to "Night Thirst". Village idiots know better than to read past page 75.
If it wasn't 107 degrees outside, I would recycle this thrash into the purifying flames of a holiday fire, or wrap it up as a white elephant gift, and send it to my worst enemy. Ho ho ho the horror. Not!
My grandmother used to say, " If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all Monte." Rest in Peace Grandma! And that's exactly what this vampire novel should do...RIP. Obviously, I come not to praise Walen's novel, I come to bury it. And I shall with these last words.... " The best thing I can say about Patrick Walen's "Night Thirst" is...."The novel is biodegradable."
You've been warned. Read it if you must, late at night with a warm glass of clabbered and curdled milk. Once you gagged on "They Thirst", choke it down with your spoilt milk chaser.
I've read over 100 vampire novels people, and "They Thirst" is the worst ever! My only caveat is that I've never read Twilight series novel.
Looking for a scary literary vampire novel? Here's a 13 pack of Vampire Novels to die for!
Salem's Lot - Stephen King
They Thirst- Robert Maccammon
Live Girls- Ray Garton
Dracula- Bram Stoker
How Dear the Dawn- Marc Eliot
The Light at the End- Skipp and Spector
The Summoning- Bentley Little
Lost Souls- Poppy Z Brite
I am Legend- Richard Matheson
Darkness on the Ice- Lois Tilton
The Narrows- Ronald Malfi
Carrion Comfort- Dan Simmons
Fevre Dream- George R. R. Martin
June 30, 2013
There were points at which this was tough to read; speed bumps included missing punctuation, double spaces missing on scene changes, and two different character's dialogue in the same paragraph (which was the worst of all).
All that aside, I still enjoyed the story. The idea that a government agency wants to poke and prod a vampire for ways to duplicate the good parts of being a vampire without actually becoming one—that rings true. That's enough truth to carry the story.
The rest of the story gets the reader to care about the characters, particularly Braille, adding a human side to an inhuman creature. Braille does good things for one family who saved him after he saved them. Meanwhile, we switch back and forth between his story as it unfolds and Gregory's story. Gregory is the 900 year old Master. The show of strength and resilience from Gregory is impressive right to the end.
The ending leaves room for more, for a sequel which I may just go looking for...
All that aside, I still enjoyed the story. The idea that a government agency wants to poke and prod a vampire for ways to duplicate the good parts of being a vampire without actually becoming one—that rings true. That's enough truth to carry the story.
The rest of the story gets the reader to care about the characters, particularly Braille, adding a human side to an inhuman creature. Braille does good things for one family who saved him after he saved them. Meanwhile, we switch back and forth between his story as it unfolds and Gregory's story. Gregory is the 900 year old Master. The show of strength and resilience from Gregory is impressive right to the end.
The ending leaves room for more, for a sequel which I may just go looking for...
February 9, 2019
Interesting sequel to Monastery. It was a bit difficult to read at first. I really did not like the whole first scene with the summary of the previous book. As usual, some of the dialogues feel beaten. That being said the book gets better as the plot develops and becomes really interesting. After the first few pages, it is really easy to read and, sometimes, really hard to put away.
June 3, 2020
Going into Night Thirst, I was expecting a cheesy early 90s horror novel with all the cliches. However, Night Thirst isn't like that in the least bit. Whalen surprised me with more blood and gore than I have read in any novel. That's exactly what I love in a book. Overall, the writing was much better than I expected but not amazing. At times, the dialogue seemed sloppy and was hard to follow. After finishing this book, I was met with a huge surprise. This is actually the second book in a series by Whalen. However, Whalen did give a great summary of the first novel to catch readers up. I didn't even need to read the first novel to follow and enjoy the second book. I will most definitely be looking for the first book and other books in the series!
February 1, 2022
This is the sequel to "Monastery" which was also a five star read for me. These are excellent vampire novels and are very unique. Wish I could find out more about this author. Have searched and can find nothing. Read these, you won't be sorry!
February 9, 2026
Awesome story!
This is a perfect sequel to Monastery. Braille and Gregory are fascinating characters. Patrick Whalen is a fantastic author! I wonder what it would be like as a movie?
This is a perfect sequel to Monastery. Braille and Gregory are fascinating characters. Patrick Whalen is a fantastic author! I wonder what it would be like as a movie?
March 2, 2018
I loved this book It was so well written . Kept you reading from cover to cover . great vampire story. The cover could have been better . But I see fangs and read .
December 23, 2019
Worst vampire book I've ever read. I'm sure worst vampire novels exist. However, I avoid Twilight and vampire romance. Night Thirst tricked me. Night Thirst is more like Rambo vampire horror. Not my bag.
February 10, 2015
This was another second hand store pick up. I liked the book pretty well and the vampires had a few different things going or them which is always nice to discover. Disliked the multiple POV shifts that happened at times in a chapter.
June 5, 2013
Loved the books. Hope he keeps up with the series.
October 2, 2019
This book was very good. Loved how it picked up where the 1st once left off. I just wish Braille had gone back to the Family.
The book was not as good as the first but still very good.
The book was not as good as the first but still very good.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews