One night in 2012, executive Zhang Guo Xing takes a group of European clients to a fashionable nightclub in Shanghai. While there, he meets a strikingly beautiful young Western woman called Naemi Vieno Kuusela. The physical attraction between them proves irresistible, and they embark on an intoxicating affair. But Naemi is not what she appears to be.
I love when a genre I think I know surprises me. Temple Drake does just that in NVK. She gave me a world that’s so much more entrancing, dark and fascinating than that of a typical vampire story. Here, the vampires are trapped between the folds of the living world, hoping that no one will ask where they came from. It’s intriguing, dangerous and oh so wonderful, and it makes you think of this world as a place where only vampires exist, weaving in and out of human lives as though they were smoke and not real at all. I fell hard for this story and want more of this gritty, dark world ... Supernatural tales that shock are ones that I want to read again and again, which is why I’m happy to see that Drake will be exploring more of NVK’s world. I want more of the people and more of this world. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this new series.
An atmospheric and evocative tale buoyed by a sensual affair, Drake’s debut is a compelling read that might leave some readers, like Zhang, craving more details about Naemi and her supernatural existence.
The book proceeds apace between the two narrators; tension mounts along with Zhang’s suspicions, but although something momentous always seems about to happen, it really doesn’t. An unexpected ending—though Naemi leaves, of course—sets the stage for a follow-up, forthcoming ... A pleasurable if weird stroll through familiar grounds, vampire lite.
