Thicker Than Water

Blood Brothers #1

by Greg Sisco

NOT YOUR TEENAGE SISTER'S VAMPIRESTyr and Loki are the kind of vampires who live for their own pleasure, not yours. They feel no remorse. They view human beings as livestock or sex objects. And after a thousand years of sex and destruction seducing and murdering the prettiest girls in the room, they have become two of the most diabolical serial killers of all time.But following a violent feud that separates the brothers for over a decade, Tyr hides himself away in a house on the outskirts of Las Vegas where he falls in love with a terminally ill young woman named Eva, an act deemed punishable by death by the fabled vampire council known as The Chosen.When a mysterious messenger arrives at his home, Tyr fears both Loki and The Chosen have tracked him down, forcing him to protect both himself and the dying young woman who is teaching him to feel.Thicker Than Water is a vampire thriller focusing on 100 years of immortal, hedonistic life, from the slummy brothels of the American Wild West to the bright lights of Las Vegas circa 1999. The story weaves together vampires, brothel owners, cowboys, prostitutes, and gallons of innocent blood in an orgy of violence, sex, revenge, romance, betrayal, and brotherly love.ABOUT THE "BLOOD BROTHERS" VAMPIRE SERIESThicker Than Water marks the first novel in the Blood Brothers vampire series. Drawing inspiration from Norse mythology and the works of Shakespeare, the series spans 1,000 years and half the globe, telling the story of two brothers and the rise and fall of their bloodthirsty clan. The aim of the series is to paint vampires as gods, preying on humanity from the shadows as they steer the events of history.Each of the four novels in the Blood Brothers vampire series will tell both a present day story and an historical story set sometime within the last 1,000 years, gradually unveiling the mystery of the brothers' origin and the details of their fall. The second novel in the series, The Wages of Sin, is now available exclusively in Amazon's Kindle Store.

Genres: Horror, Vampires, Paranormal, Fiction, Fantasy, Amazon, Ebooks

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 22, 2011

About the author

Greg Sisco is a novelist, screenwriter, and film director. His short fiction has appeared in anthologies such as Worst Laid Plans, Halldark Holidays, and Nox Pareidolia. Perpetually restless and habitually nomadic, he has lived in four countries and is most at home in the movie theater.

Reviews

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (2/16/2020)! 🎁

[Kelsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting take on vampires....definitely made them more monsters than you're used to seeing, but it lacked central plot.

[Brainycat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brainycat's 5 "B"s:
blood: 5
boobs: 3
bombs: 2
bondage: 2
blasphemy: 4
Bechdel Test: FAIL
Deggan's Rule: FAIL
Gay Bechdel Test: FAIL

I liked this novella a lot. The story could have been a moderately exciting thrill ride full of carnage and lust, but by breaking up the narrative between contemporary events and the history between the three vampires going back over a hundred years, the story elevates itself a notch above a mere gorefest.

The story features vampires the way I like them: undead humans with supernatural abilities that turn them into amazing predators. Not unlike The Lost Boys, actually. These guys lack most of the weaknessses of the vampire genre, and are only held in check by the fear of an oft named but never seen arch vampire cabal that will supposedly kill anyone who violates the ages old codex governing vampire behavior. (Cue the sequel here...)

It's a very short and visceral read. This is not a complicated book; there are no metaphors to decipher nor is the author trying to Say Something About The Human Condition. The characters are all straightforward (they're named Tyr, Loki and Thor - get it?) and one dimensional. This isn't a book to make you think about things, this is a book designed soley to entertain for a few minutes. The pace is excellent, the voicing good enough and the cadence and vocabulary are as good as books that have gone through the hands of a professional publishing house. Unfortunately, there were a number of grammatical errors and typos that should have been caught before going to publication. That being said, the price is right and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

Please note: I don't review to provide synopses, I review to share a purely visceral reaction to books and perhaps answer some of the questions I ask when I'm contemplating investing time and money into a book.

[╰⊱♥⊱╮ღ꧁Kathy,Ahmazing Book Faerie꧂ღ╭⊱♥≺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this more traditional take on Vampires. No glitter and sparkle here!! Just three blood brothers, doing what comes naturally to original Vampires.... rape and pillage and drink!
I got a bit confused at the start, when the story suddenly changed from present day to the wild west. but then it was all clear, we have a flash back type story, telling us of the antics of firstly, the two brothers, Loki and Tyr and the making of the third blood brother, Thor. The story swings back and forward, so takes some concentrating, I myself am going to have to read it again, when I don't have so much else going on, so I can get it really clear in my head.
Loki and Tyr have had a falling out and no longer associate with each other, but Tyr and Thor have remained close, Tyr, hoping his brother doesn't bother him again, because of the secret he is hiding from the rest of the Vampire nation.
A real open ending, just waiting to be carried on........

[Waterfall *Daughter of Northridge Earthquake* · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are many things about this book that I didn't enjoy. Then again, I'm picky.

I'll mention this briefly; it was crude. There were way too many f-bombs dropped and way too many sex references. In my opinion, you don't need these to make a great book. In fact, it takes away from it. Perhaps I wasn't expecting it, but if I'm being honest here I wouldn't have started the book in the first place if I had.

The medieval English sounded forced. It was nothing like Shakespeare or other authors of his time.

I honestly can say I have no idea how big of a span this story took up. It might have been a few days. Maybe a few months. I have no idea.

Actually, there are a lot of things I have no idea about. I never formulated anyone's appearance, particularly the vampires. If it was mentioned I didn't even notice. I used Loki from Avengers as first Tyr then Loki himself. Thor was more like Chris Hemsworth as his brief appearance in Star Trek. Tyr was faceless almost the whole time.

The characters weren't very constant. Tyr was in the beginning a coward, but in the flashbacks(which is the majority of the book) was calculating and unafraid. He was analytical, but the present-Tyr was rash and jumped to the worst of conclusions immediately. There was never any mention of a transition. It was like they were two different people. Same with Thor. Michael was a fracas, but Thor was always calm and ambiguous. They said they liked Michael, so they made him a vampire. And they liked Thor. The two are completely different people to me. Loki was a little more consistent, and slightly more comparable to the Loki in Norse mythology; I didn't get that with the other two much.

If someone were to come up to me and ask what the book was about, I wouldn't be able to say much more than just 'vampires'. There really wasn't a lot of plot or central conflict; he was trying to decide whether to kill the girl, but he'd already decided that, he just didn't want to. He was afraid of someone coming to kill him, but there was no real threat of that. Most of it was back story, with no central conflict, either. To me it sounded like this: I have an idea of how I think vampires are. I really want to write about my sexy vampires. I'll just describe how one became a vampire and throw in this chick to give it some sequence. And some sex, I'll throw that in, too, because sex is awesome.

By the way, the title and the cover are completely lost to me. I get that blood is thicker than water. So is juice. So are a lot of things. There's no real significance to me; it was never explained at all in the novel. It does, however, sound awesome, and the cover, although it looks like red food colouring sprayed into a glass, looks awesome as well.

I also don't get the prophecy. It was mentioned briefly but would have been very easy to bring up again and remind you of its existence. And maybe mentioned a bit earlier. I was wondering for half the book why he didn't just turn her into a vampire already.

I think I got all the bad stuff. Let's move on to the good stuff.

The fighting sequences? Freaking awesome. I loved those. They weren't overly detailed but I got what was going on, so in my opinion there was the perfect amount of detail. I loved them. And they weren't too long(maybe one or two was a little lengthy) and there weren't too many. They weren't even confusing at all.

Although there was a lot of back story, and two stories being told at once, I thought it was very well done. It's easily confusing to write two stories at once and make the transitions smooth and everything make sense. I really liked how well that was done.

I loved the Norse mythology reference. Before Avengers no one has really heard of Norse mythology. I'm glad I wasn't alone in that. However, the movie kind of ruined it, which is unfortunate. Sorry there, bud.

The multiple points of view were nice, and provided different sides of each character; however, they switched a little to abruptly and occasionally I got confused.

I also liked the West; not a lot of people use that these days.

Overall I honestly cannot think of a single person I know that I would recommend this to. If I ever met an adult, sex-obsessed, Twilight lover, I might recommend it to him/her. Because, let's be honest. These vampires are just Twilight vampires that don't sparkle and are a little dirtier because their author isn't Mormon. There were too many f-bombs and too much sex for me to truly enjoy this novel, too much objectifying women into nothing more than whores and toys and blah blah blah(I'm usually okay with that, though, it's not as big of a deal). Anyway, I' keep away from this unless you're into the large amount of paragraphs above.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where do I begin? I read the first half of this book in one sitting, expecting it to somehow change and introduce something... "more" to me. And perhaps that was the wrong thing to wait for. I just now finished the book and I didn't get "more". I actually got less. I got nothing. I got what a proper series book would never do: end with absolutely no closure. There was a hint at closure, and no promise of what was to come. Everything ended still up in the air. I assume the contents of the first half of the next book in the series are the closure I was expecting... But I don't care enough to buy that book because I can't get past the level of crudeness in this book. While I drop f-bombs all over the place, I do not find it particularly appealing to constantly see that when a character is not speaking.

There were many other characteristic flaws and the book in itself was very lackluster in describing the characters and settings. I prefer to become wholly involved in a book's world when I open it. I learn about the characters and what kind of a person they are. Thicker Than Water does capture the personalities of the main characters well, but other than that they are simply blank canvases.

In short, Thicker Than Water was very lackluster for me. I did not gain anything other than a memorably bad taste in my mouth. It was a nice change in view of vampires (no glittery aura here, no sir) but still, everything was so crudely written that I couldn't bring myself to enjoy it.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book ages ago when it was a freebie on Amazon. It’s supposedly a novella, but it took me ages to finish it. Why? Because it bored me to tears! It just went on and on and on, with nothing significant happening. No plot, mostly just back-story – which still did not culminate into something that could be considered a plot.

The one good thing I can say about this novella (and also my reason for giving it a two-star rating) is that the writing is good. However, I would still recommend that a professional editor give it a good once-over to smooth it out. Many sentences had missing words. I also didn’t like the typesetting of the Kindle version I got from Amazon. My Kindle allows me to change fonts to suit my visual needs, but for some reason I couldn’t change the font on my Kindle for this book.

This author undoubtedly has potential, but needs to learn a thing or two about plotting and world-building. The characters at least were relatively developed, but the pacing far too slow to hold my interest.

Overall, nothing happened in this story. Nothing that I found interesting enough to make me enjoy the story. It’s about vampires that are somewhat different from the usual, but still nothing that makes it worth my while to recommend this book to anyone.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thicker Than Water is a welcome return of the old fashioned, villainous vampire. The characters in this book are the typical brutal killers that I came to love and fear while growing up. I enjoyed the fact that the vampires are susceptible to sunlight, holy water, and the whole nine yards. It's almost reassuring because the Blood Brothers are so ruthless and terrifying that they need some sort of an Achilles' heel. Loki, Tyr, and Thor, and their apparent God complexes, deliver on all accounts; bloodthirsty, conflicted, and intriguing. Greg Sisco paints an exotic picture of violence, seduction, and love with a straight forward writing style. Not for the faint of heart, this book would satisfy any true horror fan.

[Hasien · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will admit, this story took me a while to get into. The rememberance of the past is what really caught my attention. I enjyed reading how they met and changed Thor.

[Lisa Dess · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't care for the writing style or the plot. The characters were really difficult for me to get into.

[Athena · Rating 2 out of 5]

So not good. I'm not going to say so bad, just so not good.

I feel like a broken record with my reviews lately. Let's hit the highlights:

Poorly written--check
Misused words--check
Characters so ill defined I couldn't keep them straight at first--check

Bonus ersatz Lestat character--check

I get that this is supposed to appeal to vampire fans who were deeply offended by the Twilight series, but this is not how to save the genre from the sparkly ones.

[Jack Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different

I read one of Mr. Sisco's short stories in an anthology, and was intrigued enough to try this book. While I'm not a huge vampire aficionado, this is certainly a different look at the "breed". Just not sure where he's going with it.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Short

A very dark short story with interesting yet twisted characters. A well written quick read. Just when you're starting to feel invested, you're done.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to start by saying vampires aren’t my thing. No way, nuh uh, no vampires for this girl - strictly Zombies only.

However, after reading Greg’s fantastic blog post on ‘proper’ vampires http://www.gregsisco.com/five-vampire... I was intrigued. Maybe, just maybe, there’s someone out there who doesn’t think vampires sparkle and love kittens. So casting my long-standing vampire prejudice aside, I (reluctantly) picked up a copy of Thicker than Water.

Thicker than Water is the story of two brothers Tyr and Loki, and their recent (in vampire terms) recruit, Thor. Named after Norse mythological characters, the brothers have been around the block more than a few times, and have the whole vampire game pretty much down pat. After a disagreement over a child during one of their hell-raising, blood-guzzling escapades, they are no longer in contact – Tyr is in a relationship with a human and Loki is building up his empire with Thor within the sinful confines of Vegas.

Much of this book focuses on the tale behind the turning of Thor, in the late 19th century wild-west, and ends with the story behind the argument that has separated the brothers for the last 13 years.

Thicker than Water pulls no punches where these vampires are concerned – they are in the truest sense of the word, proper vampires. For me, the story started a little slowly, but after the first third of the book, the pace was ramped up quickly, climaxing with the story of their last raid together. The characters are strong and easily identifiable, which makes them very ‘likeable’ (for want of a better word!) and intriguing.

There were some small spelling and grammatical errors, but not enough to bring out the Grammar Nazi’s in full force. One other thing I found slightly difficult to get used to was the accents during the Wild-West chapters, but once I got into it, I didn’t even notice it anymore.

Am I converted? Partially (I’m old and set in my ways!). I love that Greg isn’t afraid to go all out with his vampires and paint them exactly as they should be – bloodthirsty and merciless.

Warning – the ending IS a cliffhanger!

[Carrie Kilgore · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book starts out just fine, with some interesting details about these vampires (including some great folk lore the vampires have handed down within their species), an intriguing prophecy, and a compelling relationship one vampire begins to develop with a human. Then we are suddenly plunged into an extended flashback where everyone starts sounding completely fake and we're hit with a good deal of gratuitous violence (violence, like sex, can be pivotal to a good plot but please, let's have some reason for it beyond shock effect). By the time I was about halfway through the book, I stopped because I just didn't care anymore what happened to any character. It's a definite shame because I loved the ideas the author presented up front. That long, long, long, long flashback hijacked the promise of a good read. Flashbacks in general are a problem because they haul you right out of the action. Much better to present needed info from a character's past in other ways (no, not pages or chapters of a character explaining the past). Handled right, a character's history can help us connect emotionally and care about what's going to happen. That definitely did not happen here. If the point was simply that the vamps have been assholes for ages, that point could have been made more simply (and with greater brevity). If there must be a flashback, get quickly to the robbery (which I presume will be important, but there's no guarantee). A great disappointment.

If, on the other hand, you are a die-hard horror fan and you like blood and gore ladled on (whether or not a real purpose exists in telling you about it), perhaps you'll love it.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had gotten this copy probably a year ago but never sat down to read it until recently. Normally I would look at reviews and decide from there if it's worth my time, and though there were a few less than stellar reviews I decided to try this book for myself. Besides, it was free on Amazon for the day and I wanted some vampire books.

I can understand some of the previous reviewers when they say the characters weren't developed enough. That said, why would they be? The whole point of vampires, true ones, is that they are removed from their humanity to the point that they are vicious predators. They can almost be called animals if it wasn't for their ability to talk and their intelligence to blend in with the human race.

Tyr seems to be trying to be different, though. It's like he is attempting to find his humanity again, even just a little bit, in Eva. But after a thousand plus years I can see why he might struggle with if he should just go through with his plans to kill her or not. He loves his brothers dearly, but he's grown attached to the girl he saved many years ago, too. To me, I think that does say a lot about his character.

Honestly, I love Greg Sisco's take on vampires. It's more true to their predatory nature, it's dark, it isn't about love in the normal sense of the word (unless you count the love between the brothers), but overall I enjoyed reading it and I look forward to reading The Wages of Sin.

[Kenecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good read. It's paranormal without the romance. It's blood and guns with intellectual thought rolled all up under and through it. Strangely enough, this book helped pull me back from the fantasy world that most books are painting nowadays. Life is great, then a guy comes, then it sucks, and then everyone eats cake! There is a slight romantic type situation in the book so don't worry, it's not some vampire siblings how to guide.

I loved how the author created a ying, a Yang, and a Median with the three brothers, and made sure to give the reader a glimpse into the makeup of them all. Also, everything wasn't so black and white, including the ending, and I really do hope he continues the series. This is one I will buy in bulk. But I digress.

This really provoked some thought in me, which is easy in the terms of ranting but not in the sense of morals and right and wrong. I love Anne Rice, but these characters didn't have Louis or Lestat type breakdowns or questions about vampire way of life. It was more along the lines of vampire law, and what was good for THEM to accept or rebel against. Something people struggle with everyday. And that is why this book is so awesome.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The vampires, Loki, Thor and Tyr are b-b-bad to the bone. Well, maybe not Tyr. He's conflicted and seems to be growing a conscience. Maybe. This is a quick read - only 209 kindle pages long and when you get to the end, you just may react as I did "what?!? No way, you can't end it like this!" Now I'll have to read the next installment. Good grief.

I would put this in the "horror" genre because it truly is and it's difficult at times to eat even popcorn while reading. These vampires aren't pretty and they're not sexy. They're evil monsters. Why did I like it? The story kept me glued to the pages, kinda like driving by an awful accident all the time saying to yourself "don't look, don't look" and your eyes don't obey. My mind kept saying, don't keep reading this, those vampires are sick and evil but I just HAD to see where it went, how it would end up. Unfortunately, the ending leaves you hanging, in a way. It says one thing buy my mind rejects it, thinking naw, it won't go that way. Now I'll have to get book 2 whenever it comes out to see if I'm right or not. Thanks a lot Sisco!

[Rjsmommy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like a violent, bloodthristy vampire just as much as the next guy but there just was no likable characters here. The first in a series, a trio of ultra violent vampires who have basically been psychopathic sociopaths for centuries reunite after a 13 yr. separation in Las Vegas. Tyr left 13 yrs. before when he fought with Loki over whether to kill a six yr. old girl during a bloddy train massacre. Tyr has tracked down that now 19 yr. old girl with the intention of killing her (now that she has aged and grown into her blood potential)but instead finds out that she is dying of cancer and somehow begins dating her all the while saying he will kill her tomorrow. I'm not sure if we are supposed to be seeing Tyr's redemption here of not (he continues to bed and kill other women throughout the novel...even installing an incinerator on his property for easy disposal)but I just don't see or feel it. Not one of the characters is likable or able to gain any sympathy or empathy. Not even going to bother with the second if it does get written.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

These three vampires are the real deal! Meet Tyr, Loki and Thor, the youngest of the three. They are dark, blood thirsty, mean, deadly and dark, and show no remorse for their actions. Tyr and Loki, centuries old vampire brothers have a HUGE fallen out over a young human girl and Tyr goes into hiding for over a decade, during which time, he falls in love with a terminally ill young woman (who just happens to be the young girl all grown up). Loki and Thor are busy building a depraved 'empire' in 'Sin City' (Las Vegas). Their paths cross and all heck breaks lose between them.

This book goes beyond gritty, the characters are not 'likable' in the sense that I want to meet them, but they are very frightening and often revolting, as is the plot. If you can handle the darkness and violence, go for it!

[DAISY READS HORROR · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will start off by saying that I can't wait for the 2nd book to come out! Wow the ending really leaves you wanting more!

I really loved the setting of the story in Las Vegas and the American West. Sisco does a great job in describing the surroundings. My favrite one in the story was when they get in that bar fight n the American West. My favorite character was Tyr. He was very masculine and was sympathetic at the same time. Another element of this story that I loved was the brutal murders. I love gor and horror stuff so this was a plus for me.
I will definately be on the look-out for the 2nd book in the series! I want to find out what happens with Eva and read more on the brutal adventures of Tyr, Thor and Loki!

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do believe that this is the worst piece of garbage I have ever had the displeasure of reading. Honestly I don't get it. Vampires going by Thor, Loki, and Tyr. Ridiculously funny and no way I can take this serious. Yes they are bloodthirsty and vile, but going by names like that is just a joke. Everything about this book is just so one dimensional..the characters..the plot..everything. The attitude towards women in this book is so revolting. I felt like throwing up on several occasions and that is a hard task to accomplish considering some of the shit I read. Yes..it was part of the story line, but it was serious overkill on the writing and just made this piece of work sound like garbage.

[Sarah Sigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible vampire book! This is the way vampires are suppose to be!! Scary, manipulative, cunning, and only out for the "Brother Hood" and taking out anyone in their path!

This was such a great book, each chapter goes back and forth through time and done in such a way you have no idea until the end of the book! Each chapter tells a separate story but ties it all together.

I'm trying hard not to give anything away, but it's so hard! Creates a different suspense with each chapter that leads up to the end. I can NOT WAIT for the next one!!!

Not even love gets in the way to the way of life of these amazing creatures! IT"S AWESOME

[M.L. Roos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story. Finally vampires are vampires again. Tyr and Loki are brothers that have not seen each other in 13 years since "The Great Train Robbery of 1986". Tyr has been busy drinking from his drains and putting bodies in the incinerator while Loki is off being Loki. And then the brothers are reunited along with Thor....and blood....and violence....

Greg Sisco has a visceral grasp of the vampire genre which has been sorely missed since Twilight. If you like your vampires bloody, rough, and merciless, then this is a must read. Cannot wait for book two.

[Bren · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first novel by this author. The writing was wonderful. The story was dark and twisted - just perfect. When I came to the end, though, I was stunned. I still haven't been able to figure out exactly what the plot was. I think it may have been the story of the little girl, but it was so minor and so unexciting, I just can't believe that was the plot.

It read more as if it was a character development book. Explaining the histories of them and their personalities. Mr. Sisco is a wonderful author, just really lacked in a true plot.

[Juin Charnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

That, by no means, is a bad rating. But I didn't overly love it. There was a misogynistic tone that I didn't like. And while the vampire lore was a little different than other books, it felt true to the story. I enjoyed the cross layers of time lines. Loki is psychotic and Thor is coming into his own. Tyr is the most conflicted. His story with Eva is cute. I wanted to see what would happen next. There are stories there yet to be uncovered.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

These vampires are true apex predators. Do you weep for the chicken in your grocer's freezer? If you do then this isn't the book for you. If you want unremorseful, reveling in their own destruction vampires this is the book for you. Greg Sisco's vampire are the vampires to fear. These vampires will never be loved, only feared. If you have the most unfortunate chance of meeting them, it will definitely be your end.

[Yvonne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was sitting partially read on my Itouch for a long time. Finally had to find out where the plot was heading...

Housekeeping - well written, none of those niggling mechanics errors that distract me from the story.

I was fascinated and kept reading as there was much potential to be had with the premise. Sad :( that it didn't fulfill the possibilities set out in the first part of the story.

[Desiree Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes. Another vampire book down. And I have to say this one was more brutal, cruel, almost felt honest.. Not the fairy tale everyone falls in love with the vampire and they don't suck blood from humans and kill them. This was an all out blood and guts I'm killing fucking hot chicks for blood because that's what I do because I can and have to. I found myself liking the character I thought everyone would end up hating. He's domineering, selfish, confident, mean, self righteous, and an ass.

[Peyton Sloane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was sitting partially read on my Itouch for a long time. Finally had to find out where the plot was heading...

Housekeeping - well written, none of those niggling mechanics errors that distract me from the story.

I was fascinated and kept reading as there was much potential to be had with the premise. Sad :( that it didn't fulfill the possibilities set out in the first part of the story.