The hunger

Beatrix Lisse, Countess of Lente, is the toast of London and the most fascinating woman in Europe. She has been fascinating men for a thousand years, for Beatrix was born vampire. Over the years, she has tried everything to fill her life with interest or purpose: social and spiritual causes, creating and collecting priceless art, controlling empires through her consorts. She has sipped from countless strong male throats, and indulged in passionate sexual affairs. But she has never let herself truly love another. Now she is bored, jaded, and ultimately weary. There is nothing she desires. . . John Staunton, Earl of Langley, has the reputation of being the most debauched man in England. What no one knows is that Langley is cultivating his worthless reputation in order to conceal his real activities as a volunteer spy for his government. Over the years he's been very successful, but killing and deceit has become a trap. His life is missing some vital spark. Beatrix and John are attracted to each other in London, and they can see through each others' deceptions. But when they discover each others' true secrets, and when Beatrix accidentally contaminates John's blood, turning him into a vampire, they must overcome past scars and fears to defeat Asharti. And, together, they must find new purpose for their lives and an eternity together. Intense and sexy, The Hunger plumbs the depths of the human soul. - author's website

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.