The Awakening

Alliance Vampires #5

by Shannon Drake

Returning home to Salem, Massachusetts, to perform at a weeklong music festival, Megan O'Casey and her husband Finn come face-to-face with terror when an ominous force possesses them both, forcing them to participate in an ancient ritual and fulfill their dark destiny.

Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Vampires, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror

495 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Heather Graham Pozzessere
aka Heather Graham, Shannon Drake

Heather Graham was born on March 15, 1953 and grew up in Dade County, Florida, and attended the University of South Florida at Tampa, majoring in theater arts and touring Europe and parts of Asia and Africa as part of her studies. After college, she acted in dinner theaters, modeled, waitressed, and tended bar. She married Hershey Dennis Possezzere, and after the birth of her third child, she was determined to devote her efforts to her writing: her dream. She sold her first book in 1982.

Today, this author's success is reflected not just by reader response and the over 20 million copies of her books in print, but in many other ways. In addition to being a New York Times bestselling author, Heather has received numerous awards for her novels, including over 20 trade awards from magazines such as Romantic Times and Affaire de Coeur, bestseller awards from B. Dalton, Waldenbooks, and BookRak, and several Reviewers' Choice and People's Choice awards.

Heather has appeared on Entertainment Tonight, Romantically Speaking, a TV talk show that aired nationwide on the Romance Classics cable channel, and CBS Sunday News. She has been quoted in People and USA Today, been profiled in The Nation, and featured in Good Housekeeping. Her books have been selections for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild. She has been published across the world in more than 15 languages and has published over 70 titles, including anthologies and short stories.

Now, she had five children. Somehow, this prolific author manages to juggle it all - family, career, and marriage - while reaching a level of success to which few can aspire.

Reviews

[WhiskeyintheJar · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Rod Horncastle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5 stars.

I got this audiobook from the library because it said Salem and Music. Witches and Rock n Roll. I'm good. However, 14.5 hours of this was 4 hours too long. Seriously, do some editing Woman. (another annoying quirk: I don't know if the authors name is Heather Graham or Shannon Drake. But I guess if you're writing about Vampires and Witches then Drake is a cooler last name. Nah, don't care.)

So a couple (who performs as a cover band in local bars with backing tracks) from New Orleans gets a weeklong Halloween gig in Salem Massachusetts. Weird things start happening: everything from demon possession to sexual abuse and nightmares. And then there's the obvious: they're in a town full of Wiccans and possible Satanists. But hey! It's Halloween, and this town knows how to celebrate All Hallows Eve.

This is kind of a fun/annoying romance and relatives tale. Lots of interesting characters and mystery and classic fictional understandings of the Salem Witch trials. There's very few clues about who the badguys really are. Which makes the story really really long. But it's amusing on a long drive.

So the basic dark plot is: an evil Coven is bringing back an old Demon. It plans to take over our main characters body and eject his soul. Then he gets to wreck havoc on the countryside. Unless some Vampires and Werewolves show up to save them... Well duh, how else are 2 musicians gonna make a stand against Ancient evil and its horde?

I don't think the story is really as exciting as I just made it sound. It wasn't horrible, and there were a few good funny moments, and lots of lusty sex for some reason. Mostly weird demon possessed sex that nobody should really read --- just weird disturbing crap (by my standards. Most literary people would not even rate it as eligible for softcore porn). Not sure why I finished it...

Okay, the real reason I got through it all is because of the Theology and Demonology. The author has no problem throwing everything and the Holy Watered kitchen sink into these tales. Which really doesn't make sense. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer had the same confusion).

So we have Vampires, and Werewolves (sure, why not), and demons, and Wiccans, and Satanists (I guess?), but then we have the power of the Catholic church and Priests and Scripture. Ummmh, what the hell: how does that work exactly?
Here's my problem: The church only works if Jesus and the Bible are totally accurate and trustworthy. Holy Water only works if Baptism is sacred. You really can't cherry-pick this stuff and have it be effective. So my big question: Where were all the Angels? If you have demons then you really should have angels. And what the hell are Vampires and Werewolves to the church? I don't recall any Werewolves in my Sunday morning Bible classes. (There are a fair bit of Dragons in the Bible - but that's not relevant to this story).
AnyWHO - we have Vampires using the Catholic church to fight off Satanists raising demons. And zero mention of Jesus "king of kings, lamb slain for the sins of the world!" (except as a blasphemous catchphrase). If Jesus had a pet werewolf then that would be cool, and possibly tie-together some of these strands.

My other problem was all the Wiccan crap. This author really wants everyone to know how nice and kind and loving wiccans are. They only do good of course and adore mother nature and healthy relationships. "Gag!" Seriously, Spend a few minutes looking up Wiccan spells, (especially spells to get rid of all the nightmares associated with this evil. Hmmm...) Wiccan knives, Wiccan Blood Oaths, Wiccan Goddessess. Wiccan sex... Research and observe the hatred Wiccans have for Christianity. Yep, the Biblical Trinity simply doesn't get along with Pagan gods and goddesses and their lusty quests. So, seeing Wiccans and Vampires and Priests working together??? Not likely. Wiccans would generally side with a demon for more magik spells --- and most likely assume that ol' Beelzebub is one of their gods or goddesses.

But I have no problem with furry Werewolves. They Rock!

[Melissa Levine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just jumped right into this series. I hadn't realized that this wasn't a ‘first’ until after I already started reading it. Needless to say, I'm not sure how the other books in this series were, but this one was very bland. It dragged on and on, and there wasn't really much action. For example, it’s like Finn and Megan are walking, talking, fighting, dreaming, and that's basically it. I couldn't wait for this story to end. It took me a while to get through. I'm sure the author could have shortened it.

The robotic dialogue didn't help. I swear there were several different parts throughout the book that made no sense either, whether it was the action taking place or what was being said. Of course, I didn't bother writing any examples down. Sorry, I was bored.

The best part for me (not really!) was at the end, and Bac-Dal had taken over Finn's body for a few minutes. Lucien tells Megan to talk to him, to get Finn to fight back. Yeah..."Dear lord, Dear god! Finn." haha That was the cheesiest line I've ever read when someone is trying to get another person to 'snap out of it' or fight back. Wow!

Questions/Comments:

At one point, Finn and Megan are at her aunts house chatting. Her aunt asks them what they do in New Orleans. Megan's response? They drink coffee and read the newspaper. Um? Isn't that typically what most adults do....everywhere?

Why did it not seem possible for someone to go to Salem and not bring up what happened hundreds of years prior? That being the witch trials and whatnot. I know Salem is basically known for the witchy stuff, but still.

I found it funny that Megan kept bringing up the fact that Finn and her had had sex, although, he never remembered doing it. Yet! She ends up falling asleep during another episode.

When Finn punches Mr. Marty, how did the doc know that he wouldn't end up with a bruise? I mean, if Finn knocked him out, I would have assumed there'd be at least a bruise.

"Wicked!" Sorry but whenever someone said that word, which I found cheesy, it made me think of the one Adam Sandler movie. I can't remember which one it was though.

At one point, Finn goes to Morwenna and ends up telling Sara, Joseph, and her that he needs some help with the weird stuff that's going on. Morwenna ends up telling them that he needs to go with her to see Eddie. “Just come by whenever and I'll go with you." (Something like that.) So like 10-20? minutes later, Sara pops up randomly and says that Morwenna can't come because she's super busy and that she'll take him herself. Huh?

When they're at Eddie's, Finn comments on how the book that Eddie is bringing to them isn't ancient. Yet, once he has it in his hands, he says how it has a leather cover, and it's pages are fragile. That would make me think ancient or at least very old.

What was with Megan's Aunt and all her comments about Megan and her attractiveness? It was really strange. "I was fiercely protective of the stunning, young beauty on the bed." Weird!

All the perfect couple, Barbie and Ken, comments got really annoying.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an incredibly bad book. Bland, boring, poorly written, full of typos, and comma's in weird places. I don't think I've read a book before where the two main characters who are supposed to be so madly in love have so little chemistry. The dialogue is stunted and there is surprisingly a complete lack of suspense or build up to anything. I read another of her books "Haunted", written under a psuedonym, and I guess she must really like writing supernatural romance, however she is not that good at it since "Haunted" was pretty crappy too.

This book is part of a series which I didn't realize, but should have when several previously unknown characters, vampires and one werewolf, show up completely out of the blue over half-way through the story, which is about Megan and Finn, married musicians who go to Salem to play at a supper club during Halloween week, hoping to entertain the masses while trying to save their marriage which seems plagued by bad dreams about what I thought at first was a Centaur, but really is a demon, as well as the fact that Finn may have murdered a woman on his way there. It's just a clusterfuck of sterotypical characters such as Wiccans, satan worshippers, creepy innkeepers, the kindly aunt, the supportive ex-boyfriend, a blue fog (yes the fog is a character) and the crazy oldtimer and his zany stories which, guess what folks, turns out he was right all along!

This book reads like a Lifetime movie of the week and no one else should waste their time with it. I took the bullet for you. Don't let it be for nothing.

[Mareena · Rating 5 out of 5]

For my #8 challenge (Spooky Story), I read The Awakening by Shannon Drake. In an attempt to save their failing marriage, New Orleans musicians Megan Merrill and Finn Douglas have come to Megan's hometown - Salem, Massachusetts to play a weeklong series of concerts, culminating on All Hallow's Eve. From the moment they arrive in Salem, however, Finn begins to change; loving and attentive one moment, cold and ruthless the next. The locals - even Megan's own relatives - regard him with distrust bordering on hatred.

As the time of the full moon draws nearer, Megan has terrifyingly real nightmares which make her begin to doubt her sanity and she is followed at night by an enveloping fog. She must soon face the fact that something has claimed Finn for its own and that her very soul is in mortal danger. I give this paranormal romance an A+!

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! The descriptions of Salem and everything that goes on brings a vivid picture of place and events. You can feel the confusion, the fear, that the characters feel. Again, at first, you don't really know the connection, but about halfway through, it comes together, and the action and climax of the story keeps you glued and turning the pages. I thought both characters, Finn and Megan, were strong despite their confusion and denial, and the love they have for each other is so fierce, some of us can only wish we had that very thing. I thought it was well done, including historic facts. A great read.

[Eliza Lagonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a reread for me, but I haven't read it for almost 10 years. I remembered the ending more than the story.
The story is more of a 3.5 stars, but there's enough wrong that boosting to a 4 star isn't going to happen.
I love Shannon Drake's stories and the world she created and I do like this story I just wish she got to the point a little quicker. It's about 100 pages too long. More 75-100 pages but you get my point.

I've been looking forward to this reread since the end of January because ai wanted the book to be my bath book for spooky season and it ran into Christmas season. I enjoyed reading it and even though it took me an extra 3 weeks to read I still liked it.

The big problem is, it feels like Shannon Drake had a great idea for a ghost story/raising a demon story and wasn't sure how to fit it into her series so so meandered her way through until she found the thread and the forgot to cut some of the meandering.

I might read the series again over the next year or two, but I also know the other books in the series are between 300 and 400 pages not 480.

[Tabatha Shipley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, a place I am familiar and enraptured with. The story also happens to take place the week of Halloween which is a pretty major holiday around those parts.

I enjoyed the two main characters and the mystery surrounding them. Alas, it was a bit predictable and the ending was anticlimactic for my tastes. In my humble opinion if you spend 400 pages on the week prior to an event, feel free to spend more than 50 on the major event. But, I digress.

It was a good story, meant for cheap thrills which is delivered. I'm glad I read this one around Halloween.

[Belinda in Alabama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really Enjoyable and Spooky

Great descriptions of New England area. Spooky people and places. I enjoyed this story and the way things kept turning around so that you didn't know who was good or who was bad. Wicca is a subject I know nothing about. This story explained a little about it. I hope you read this story for fun and a little shiver. Happy Reading.

[Allison Novasel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one starts slow - and is very hard to follow. But towards the middle, the characters we know and love from the first four books show up and it was easy to like the rest. Again - mindless entertainment but so fun and easy to enjoy!!

[Rowan Creech · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good with some very surprising twists at the end of the story. The tension between the married couple throughout the book gets a little tedious and one of the main characters is always getting into it with someone, that got a little old too, but other than that it was a very good story.

[Virna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story but this drag a bit thru it.

[Maria Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book. I did not know it was part of a series. I will read the rest.

[Jackie Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Heather Graham’s books but this one not so much. It dragged

[Heather Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Enjoy the two main characters in the mystery around them and the fact it took place in Salem it was very fast paced kept me intrigued

[Marcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't finish...got bored with where the plot "wasn't" going anytime soon.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay, a bit hokey at times.

[Sandra Savell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read and entertaining.

[Kari Tatom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will say story-wise this has been my least favorite in the series. The series is called Vampire Alliance only this book is about Satanism and witchcraft.

[Kristy Trauzzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. Also really wanted to road trip . . . I felt like I was in this magical/mystical town.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great suspense story set in present day Salem MA the week prior to Halloween. When Finn & Megan, husband & wife musicians who reside in New Orleans, are offered a large amount of money to perform for the week leading up to Halloween in Salem MA, they can't believe their luck. Little did they know, this was part of a plan that had been set in motion a long time ago. As their week in Salem progresses, they both begin having nightmares that seem all too real, and Finn's personality begins to change as well. There are a lot of characters involved in the plot line, and it was very hard to know who was good, and who was the complete opposite of good - pure evil. This was the first book I've read by Shannon Drake, who I just discovered is a pseudonym for Heather Graham! Interesting! I also realized after reading this that this is Book # 5 in Shannon Drake's vampire series. Now I need to get to the library and find Book # 1!

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really have mixed feelings about this book. I've read some of Graham's books and liked them alot. This one seemed to drag on and on, like 200 pages too long. The very end was good but there's so much that could have been left out that repeated over and over.
The couple, Finn and Megan Douglas, go to Salem, MA to perform a music concert during the week leading up to Halloween, the High Holy Day of Wiccans. They are also working to repair a recent separation they've had in their marriage. During the week, very strange happenings take place. There are dreams when Finn seems to become a different person, even demonic, with Megan. Dreams where Megan seems to be a different person. They both don't know who in the town to trust and who not to, some are even Megan's relatives who are in question. But is anyone really who they seem? I think not. I did have the finale figured out very early in the book, which is sort of a thing that bothers me.
I struggled some to finish this book.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to like this book, I really did. I do enjoy the other books by this author that I've read. They're usually nice, quick, pulpy reads that I can get through with little to no effort and sometimes, that's just what you want. This one though... The author covered some themes that hit a very personal note with me which is usually good or bad depending, because it helps me connect with the setting and the characters and what have you. This time, it was not a good situation but not because it was cause for thought. The problem being in the way that the Wiccans/Witches are represented here. I believe the author meant well but it just seemed so uninformed and trite, which for me was so very distracting to what *could* have been a good story. In all, I won't say it has turned me off from reading anything else by Heather Graham but I cannot recommend this book to anyone who may have similar interests as myself.

[Deirdre · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would probably have been more pleasing if I had read more in this series, however I haven't so I'm not sure if this is a typical read in this series or just a book that features some of the characters from the series.

It does have Vampires and Werewolves in the story but that's actually not very important to the plot. They felt like they could have been replaced by ordinary people and not really changed the story much. So I was left with a vague wondering why they were necessary in this story of human courage and spirit overcoming paranormal evil. Some of the plot twists did take me by surprise but this was basically a story about some Satanists wanting to manifest a demon and what two people have to do to fight it.

It was readable but sometimes I felt that things were a little forced and didn't flow well.

[Anne Patkau · Rating 1 out of 5]

* "The Awakening" of an evil demon, via angelic Megan and devilish husband Finn, is set over Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts. Much like "Dead by Dusk", also by Shannon Drake, the couple are estranged, but come together for work, here music, helpful friends and relatives are indistinguishable from villains until the final pages [and spoiler - are rescued by vampires from other Drake books]. I like the twisting whodunit aspect, but not the bruising sex to confuse us whether our hero has been conquered by evil, or the supernatural saves all, so read more Drake, commercial push. Although detailed geography serves to separate books and impress us with research (boring), the locale is itself a character integral to the plot. Even the dark fog is a villain. I guessed the wicked priestess and some rites, but not her priest.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Library Journal says "...fans will be waiting for this one." I imagine that prior to being cut, it said "ONLY fans will be waiting for this one." As the culmination in a series of paranormal romances mainly centered on vampires, this one certainly did disappoint.
The two main characters are already married at the start of the novel, which is odd for a romance, but that doesn't mean they bicker any less or trust each other any more. And theirs is the love that is supposed to conquer all, including a centuries old demon that even Lucian doesn't know how to deal with. Whatever.
I also think this series of books has the same (really terrible) editor. I have continually been stunned by the myriad errors in each book, mostly of the variety spell check doesn't catch ('a time to reap and a time to sew", for example).
Really, I'm quite chagrined that I wasted so much time reading this series.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Shannon Drake book and I did enjoy it but I found it really slow to start with. The first half of the book just dragged and I found myself wanting to hurry through to the good stuff that I just KNEW would be around the corner. There seemed to be alot of repetition of info that was interesting the first time but wasn't necessary the fourth or fifth time it was mentioned (this was mostly the stuff about Wiccans and history of Salem etc.) Once the Alliance turned up it started to pick up fast and from then I was hooked. Just wish the whole book had been like that cuz it was such a gripping subject. Definitely reading more of hers though...

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little surprised that this is considered book 5 in the Vampire series, because really this was a story about witches. There are a few vampires towards the end of the book, but the story could have been told with out their involvement. I thought the story started out a little slow, but then gained momentum. Towards the end, I really wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next. I liked learning some of the historical information about Salem. I was able to predict who the evil priestess was less than halfway through the book, but the other members of the evil coven were more surprising to me.

[Paraphrodite · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars. Probably the worst book I've read by Graham/Drake.

The protagonists were a married couple with marital difficulties, that would have been ok if not for all the weird & violent s*x dreams they both had of each other and with others. I gathered that they were somehow "influenced" by these satanic worshipers, but still, their feelings were so wishy-washy that I don't believe their "great love" for each other would eventually save the day.

It was nice to see the couples from the previous Alliance books appearing in the final couple of chapters coming to their assistance, but it was much too late to save this book.