What do you think?
Rate this book
Left to the Night Alone
Ivana Morriander has lived life to its fullest. She has seen things and done things that most people could only imagine doing. To the unsuspecting person she is beautiful, smart and taking each day by the hand to enjoy all it has to offer. But in reality, she is miserable. "Life" for Ivana is an interesting oxymoron.being as she is not alive and hasn't been for a very long time. How does a woman who has everything.everything that most humans would give their souls for, cope with living forever while everything and everyone around her dies? Enter Ruben.a dashing and handsome man of secretive origins and brilliant mind. He and Ivana fancy each other and for a time she finds happiness. However, Ruben holds a secret, a secret family oath that he is bound to fulfill and Ivana is the very creature his family has been sworn to kill at all costs. Will Ruben let his love of the beautiful woman prevent him from honoring his duty or will his heart be broken carrying out a centuries old promise that he neither made, nor wishes to keep?
260 pages, Paperback
First published October 5, 2007
3 people want to read
About the author
Andrea Dean Van Scoyoc
88 books4 followersCritically Acclaimed Best Selling Horror Sinisteria Author of "The Two"...Winner of the 2005 Preditors and Editors Horror Novel of The Year For "A Man of Two Worlds"...2006 Second Place Finisher in the P & E Readers Poll for "Michael"...2007 3rd Place Finisher P & E Polls Author of The Year
Owner of Twisted Dreams and Worlds Within Worlds Beyond Magazines.
Owner of Twisted Dreams and Worlds Within Worlds Beyond Magazines.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 6, 2010
The storyline of “Left to the Night Alone” centers around Ivana Morriander. Ivana is undead. Note I did not call her a vampire, despite the new title her story is soon to be re-released under. I don’t personally see Ivana’s character as a vampire and after a brief online conversation with authoress I know she didn’t necessarily write her that way either, but apparently many other readers of the book did. The truth is expect for an aversion to sunlight there is absolutely nothing vampiric about Ivana and I’m frankly a little baffled by the insistence of other readers that she is. Personally, if I were forced to place a label upon Ivana’s existence it would be intellectual zombie… but I digress.
Mostly the book chronicles two parts of Ivana’s life, or afterlife as the case maybe. The major focus, or larger part, deals with a time right around the Great Depression when she was friends with a New York bar owner, Dante. Dante’s bar and the young bartender he employed, Luther, become very dear to Ivana. So dear in fact that she is found in the opening scene of the book sitting in the modern day incarnation of the bar and thinking back on her old friends. The second part of the book is about her tumultuous relationship to an eccentric artist named Ruben. In-between the back and forth between her past and present with Ruben and Dante some events and happenings of her longer, older history are reviled, but mostly the book is about these two era’s in her life and how they relate to and contradict from each other.
The characters of Dante and Luther are typical of what one would expect of people living during the time period. They are both at their core honest and good men who are focused to deal with the unpleasant nature life can take on from time to time. I have no trouble at all understand why Ivana would feel loss and longing for their friendship after their passing and why they would be difficult to replace.
Ruben on the other hand is a bit of an odd duck. He’s awkward and unsure of himself, but at the same time comes off arrogant and formal. The conversations between him and Ivana are full of phrases and lines that seem very non-organic to any sort of conversation taking place in the modern day. It feels as though he and to a lesser degree Ivana, when she is around him, are trying just a little too hard to be, for lack of a better word, Goth. Beyond that it’s difficult for me to put into words how much I loathed Ruben.
The tie in of the Dante’s and Ruben’s stories is important to the ending of the book. So, I will not give it away. But there is some math with the timelines of their stories that just doesn’t quite add up. For Dante’s mother and Ruben’s multiple great-grandfather to have known the same people and done all the things they claimed and for both stories to tie into Ivana’s past it would have required, in my figuring, for Dante’s mother to have been a couple hundred years old when she had him. But that aside it was an enjoyable and imaginative story. I truly had a hard time putting it down once I started reading it.
Overall, I’d say I would suggest this one to anyone who likes undead characters who are full of moral fiber and emotional complexity. On the other hand, I’d advise anyone who likes blood and gore covered zombies or vamps to perhaps give this one a pass, because while there are some gruesome scenes that’s not what this book is about. That’s not what Ivana is about.
Mostly the book chronicles two parts of Ivana’s life, or afterlife as the case maybe. The major focus, or larger part, deals with a time right around the Great Depression when she was friends with a New York bar owner, Dante. Dante’s bar and the young bartender he employed, Luther, become very dear to Ivana. So dear in fact that she is found in the opening scene of the book sitting in the modern day incarnation of the bar and thinking back on her old friends. The second part of the book is about her tumultuous relationship to an eccentric artist named Ruben. In-between the back and forth between her past and present with Ruben and Dante some events and happenings of her longer, older history are reviled, but mostly the book is about these two era’s in her life and how they relate to and contradict from each other.
The characters of Dante and Luther are typical of what one would expect of people living during the time period. They are both at their core honest and good men who are focused to deal with the unpleasant nature life can take on from time to time. I have no trouble at all understand why Ivana would feel loss and longing for their friendship after their passing and why they would be difficult to replace.
Ruben on the other hand is a bit of an odd duck. He’s awkward and unsure of himself, but at the same time comes off arrogant and formal. The conversations between him and Ivana are full of phrases and lines that seem very non-organic to any sort of conversation taking place in the modern day. It feels as though he and to a lesser degree Ivana, when she is around him, are trying just a little too hard to be, for lack of a better word, Goth. Beyond that it’s difficult for me to put into words how much I loathed Ruben.
The tie in of the Dante’s and Ruben’s stories is important to the ending of the book. So, I will not give it away. But there is some math with the timelines of their stories that just doesn’t quite add up. For Dante’s mother and Ruben’s multiple great-grandfather to have known the same people and done all the things they claimed and for both stories to tie into Ivana’s past it would have required, in my figuring, for Dante’s mother to have been a couple hundred years old when she had him. But that aside it was an enjoyable and imaginative story. I truly had a hard time putting it down once I started reading it.
Overall, I’d say I would suggest this one to anyone who likes undead characters who are full of moral fiber and emotional complexity. On the other hand, I’d advise anyone who likes blood and gore covered zombies or vamps to perhaps give this one a pass, because while there are some gruesome scenes that’s not what this book is about. That’s not what Ivana is about.
May 7, 2012
This book was not only a great read, but it was something that kept you reading. Although I did get a little anxious when memories kept occurring while a interesting part of the story had started, I was happy to have been able to know some of this back story of Ivanna. If you like a good vampire story, this is a must read ;)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews