Title: The Burning
Author: Susan Squires
Published in April 2006 by St. Martin's Press
Genre: Paranormal
ISBN: 0-312-99855-4
Related Books: Sacrament Sacrilege: The Only One Anthology The Companion The Hunger One with The Night
Other Books by Susan: No More Lies, Danegeld, Body Electric, Danelaw
There are times of certitude in a man's life, and no matter what kind of man he is they can bring peace, turmoil, or just plain confusion. Sometimes he is sure he is right, and fights for the cause. Sometimes he is wrong, and pays the price. For the times he is confused, he seeks help and guidance to put him on the correct path. So has the life of Steven Sincai come full circle? He was certain that the elders were wrong to try and destroy all made vampires. Being born of the blood, Stephen did not feel the compulsion to destroy life. He felt it was a precious commodity and strove to protect it at all costs. Now, he has found in Asharti, the reason for the elders thinking. After the wanton destruction she has caused, Stephen feels he must atone for the harm he as done to the world through his misguided attempt to bring Asharti into the fold as a productive member of their society. He feels that he has damaged Beatrix too, even though he did save her from a dangerous situation, a messy death way before her time. He must make amends somehow, and so he finds himself on a mission to destroy a group of Asharti's Rogue Vampires.
This destructive mission burns in his gut, however, because he is still not certain it is the way to go, he is leery of his path and this causes a time in his life of great turmoil. He is strong. Strong as he has ever been, he knows the power he possesses, but not its true strength. He paid dearly for the power he has been told he needs, suffered several years of torture, great humiliation, and degradation to be given the deadly secret of The Burning, and yet he is not certain his control over it is complete. Already his weakness and lack of control has cost Elder Rubius a daughter, and yet he is forced to press on. Mirso is the prize he wishes to gain, the monastery high in the Carpathians where his kind find peace and safety from the trials and temptations of the outside world. A place of peace is what he sees in Mirso, where the sound of his Companion will be muted, and not driving him to the life. Always it sings to him, drives him, tempts him. The refrain he hears over and over, the refrain that led him to some of his most foolish acts, driving both Asharti and Beatrix away. The loves he couldn't have. Yes, Stephen is conflicted, and what he needs is Mirso...
The touch is important to avoid. Pain, horror, unwanted feelings are transmitted not only from people, but objects in that way, and if she is not careful, Ann Van Helsing just might go mad from the exposure. She is a super-sensitive empath and feels the vibrations of life all around her. When her mother married, she went mad shortly after Ann's birth, and her father was so distraught, he followed in her path. Ann asks only that she be left in peace, but the villagers and people of the shire are a superstitious lot, and fear her, call her mad, and want her uncle to lock her away. Uncle Thaddeus is her only living relative in their line, and he is also her only hope. She needs the quiet of the manor, the seclusion of living out of the way, but even here she is not safe. Superstition rules, and the people blame her and name her a witch, trying to drive her away from the safety of the hall and its few staff. Those that really know Ann, respect her, and love her. They care deeply for her, and do what they can to protect her and her uncle.
But Thaddeus is not well, and he knows that it is only a matter of time till his heart gives out. He really wishes Ann to be settled and happy. Ann is aware of her uncle’s worries, but she is beyond her majority, and has come into her full inheritance legally and soundly. She has no doubts as to what she wishes. She is in denial about her uncle's condition, and even as he grows weaker and frailer, she locks herself farther away from the eventuality. She is truly appalled when a young, distant cousin, Erich Van Helsing shows up on her doorstep claming her as a bride. This she cannot have, this she will not do. She was hoping her uncle wouldn’t do something so precipitous, something that endangered her very well being. This brings the fear to the surface, and while she runs the woods to escape, she comes across something that will change her life forever. A man, who will touch her in more ways than one, and leave her changed. He is the only man who can make her dreams come true, the one man she can love, the one man who scares her half to death...
Kudos again to Susan Squires! The Burning is another great book for those who fell in love with your vampy heroes. Susan takes us on as delightfully sensual trip into Stephen Sincai's coming of age. Driven by his need to atone for what the Elder Rubius considers his misdeeds, he is let out again into the world with an awesome power, and a secret that he doesn't even know. When he meets Ann, he is knocked off his feet by her kindness, her beauty, and wonders why the elusive sylph is not married, or guarded. In countryside rife with deaths caused by the rogue vampires, she wanders the mountains alone. If it is the last thing he does, he wants to make her home a safe haven. But my friends, things are not meant to go so smoothly for him, and when the villagers blame Ann for the death of the tavern maid, Stephen steps into the breach. Thrown for a loop by the handsome stranger, Ann is afraid on more levels than one. She is drawn to him, and is afraid of him at the same time, yet he is there for her, and she instinctively trusts him.
Susan has made the journey of Stephan and Ann, in The Burning, a strange and compelling one. Again, she takes us to the dark side of the Companion, and its adherents. The suffering and degradation that is forced on Stephen is not pleasant, but he endures it willingly thinking it will ultimately lead him to a new life at Mirso, and the peace he thinks he will find there. Little does he know what Susan has in store for him when she drops Ann into his path. She becomes the light of his life, a reason to keep living, a reason to strive to atone. In the end, together they will discover the true secret of Stephen's new found and hard won power, and an even stranger secret that only together can they understand. The Burning goes beyond the bounds of polite romance, and once again dances on the edge of the dark side, and the darkly erotic world of the vampires of Mirso. Being a lover of the paranormal Romance, and a huge fan of Susan Squires, I urge you all to put The Burning on your to buy list. Erotic, sexy, and darkly romantic, I read it through in one sitting again. I truly could not put the book down. The Burning is definitely a book you will NOT want to miss. Look for it on Amazon, and order it today! Remember, the blood is the life!
Yours in good reading,
Rose!
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