The 7,000 Souls of Alma Drake

by Marie Flanigan

Alma Drake was a typical suburban college student before she was turned into a Succubus by her less-than-perfect boyfriend. Ian turned out to be a powerful soul-sucking Incubus with a harem of other Succubi feeding him souls. Now Alma’s up to her eyeballs in soul debt and flat broke in terms of real-world cash. She can’t turn to her friends because she had to drop out of college to keep from accidentally killing her classmates. Her mom, who thinks Alma’s a junkie, sleeps all day and stays out all night. And Alma can’t run away, because Ian… well, Ian always finds her. Shadowy figures have begun stalking Alma’s hunts and chasing her through the night. If she could, she’d just hole up and hide, but she’s driven out by her insatiable thirst for the souls of men. After all, a girl’s gotta eat.

Genres: Urban Fantasy

238 pages, Paperback

Published January 17, 2023

About the author

Marie Flanigan grew up all over the Commonwealth of Virginia as the youngest of three girls. Star Wars and comic books dominated her youth. She has a couple of degrees from George Mason University and is a licensed Private Investigator. Over the years, she’s been a disc jockey, a web developer, and a children's librarian. An avid gamer, she reviews video games for GameIndustry.com. After nine car accidents, five concussions, and brain surgery, she decided that perhaps she was more suited to a quieter life. She and her husband and three dogs live happily and somewhat chaotically outside of Washington DC. She can be found online at Mflanigan.com, on Twitter @Marie_Flanigan or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MarieFlaniga...

Reviews

[C. Erani Kole]

This is my first time reading anything by Flanigan and I was pretty into the story. I received a copy before official publishing and I’ll say that if I’d stumbled upon this on my own, I’d have had a harder time getting through it. I thrive on dialogue and having the stories progress in that form. This felt like there were pages to every page of dialogue, but at the same time, it kinda made it more “important”? I liked Alma. I think her introduction was pretty dry cut and matched the attitude she had to adapt in order to not go crazy. I liked the way incubi were portrayed in this and I liked the thought of mixing paranormal with science.

The story slowed for me specifically because of how often we stayed in Alma’s head as she narrated everything that happened. We didn’t always see her interactions with people, just brief mentions or explanations. The story idea was brilliant though. I liked seeing the characters interact. I think we got deep enough to have an inkling of what’s really going on but definitely not deep enough to understand anyone. Again, it’s a personal thing to have dialogue for me but I still found myself wanting to read til the end.

Overall, I think it’s something to check out if you like demons.

[Chelbie Portillo]

Honestly. I wish I had more of Alma. I definitely recommend reading this book. It’s a super quick amazing read!

[Nancy]

This was a terrific novel with an original exciting storyline. Alma is an unlucky woman who ends up with the wrong man and a curse he bestows upon her. She misses her mom and has to lie about her whereabouts as she is studied and poked and prodded. No spoilers.
"As a demon, you learn to trust your feelings and intuition in whole new ways."
Alma's truth, "kind mother, druggy father, college dropout, currently unemployed."
"Souls are energy...his eyes light up with excitement."
"Curiosity eases my conscience long enough for me to fall asleep."
This was my first read by Marie Flanigan and it certainly won't be my last. It took me a bit to get into the story but that was my fault not the story itself. Just too busy with life.

[Louise]

Alma has been turned into a Succubus and this drastically changes her lifestyle. She no longer sees the people she wishes to see: her friends and mum. Told from Alma's point of view, she has to surround herself with the dying public but it makes for a lonely lifestyle. The story jumps right into the plot without a lot of the characters' backgrounds and resumes at a steady pace. The book is written in the present tense so readers read the narrative in real-time. A personal pleasant way to read since nothing in the future can be foreseen and readers learn what happens at the same time as the characters.


I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to Hidden Gems Books and author.

[Roxanne Johnson-bisland]

This book was not what I was expecting.
I read lots of supernatural books but I really enjoyed this book.
Alma was turned a succubus by someone she thought was her boyfriend Ian and knows little to nothing about what and how things work in this new life.
Alma pretends to be a drug addict so that her mother doesn't know the real truth.
Alama has to hunt and take the Souls of men so that she can live and provide part of those souls to her maker Ian. If she collects enough Souls she can get her soul back.
Ian her maker tells her things that she learns is not true after she is abducted and has to adapt to her new surroundings and captors.
I can't wait to read more of her books.

[Tabatha Slagle]

This is the first book I have read by Marie Flanigan. I think she has a great idea here but I need a second book to tie things up. What happens to Alma? What about Ian? I was left hanging. I think the book was well written and had a great plot.

[Maya Azar]

the only problem I have with this book is the ending. I really wanted to read more of alma, the society and everything else. felt like it was only the first book to a series and not a complete book by itself.

[i_want_ all_the_spoilers]

I enjoyed the book. I am hoping for a next one. If you liked it you might also like "The last friend you'll ever have" with a similar mc that kills men by touching. different reason and different ending.

[Brenda]

A great book. It's fast paced and has interesting characters. Pretty hard to put down.

[Stefanie Rogers]

this was a "campy" fantasy. unique. feels like there is more to the story,

[Gabo]

I had a fun time reading this one. The premise is interesting and I need to know whether book 2 is happening…

[Alexis]

... was this supposed to be a series?

[Julie Brodie]

Very creative!!!!

[Paula]

I really enjoyed listening to this. An original idea. Is there a sequel?

[Courtney]

I really struggled to rate this because I think the plot is a 4 but the writing is like a 2.5. It was enjoyable, just felt very mehh with the quality.