Audiobook Review - Drink Deep (Chicagoland Vampires, Book 5) by Chloe Neill (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 352 pages
Publisher: New American Library
Release Date: November 1, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0451234865
Stand Alone or Series: 5th book in the Chicagoland Vampires series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the fifth book in the Chicagoland Vampires series. It did a good job of mending some of the disappointment (gut wrenching sadness and anger) that I felt at the end of Hard Bitten. This review is spoiler free for Drink Deep but does contain some spoilers for Hard Bitten...so if you haven’t read Hard Bitten yet...well you’ve been warned. The sixth book in this series, Biting Cold
, is scheduled for an August 2012 release.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook (like all the previous ones) was incredibly well done. I highly recommend this series on audiobook.

---Spoilers for Hard Bitten Ahead!!!----

Merit and Cadogan House are still reeling from Ethan’s death in Hard Bitten. Cadogan House has a Greenwich Presidium representative mucking around in House business and generally making everyone’s lives miserable. Then things really start getting crazy; the lake turns black and starts sucking in magic and then the skies over Chicago turn red. With public opinion about vampires at an all time low Merit has to figure out the mystery behind the strange happenings if she is both going to save her race and Chicago.

This book was a lot darker in tone, the characters obviously haven’t recovered from the events in Hard Bitten, and there is a huge hole where Ethan should be. Everyone is more than a little glum and this book didn’t have the fun of previous books. Things also move a bit slower in this book and there isn’t as much action as in previous installments.

Jonah really comes to the forefront of this story. Him and Merit end up partnering on a number of investigations because Cadogan House is short on guards. I really enjoyed him as a character; he was the one character who did have some fun banter back and forth with Merit. Merit grows some as a character and is forced to decide what Cadogan House means to her minus Ethan. We also see more of Tate off and on in this book.

As I said this is a dark book and most of the characters are going through some emotional turmoil. Mallory was in the story some and I usually love her character; but her character was devoid of any humor and took some very dark turns in this book.

The book ends well, with some big surprises that should please fans of the series. If you were going to give up on the series after Hard Bitten I recommend reading this book. It is kind of a transition book, but the continuing storyline looks very intriguing.

Overall a decent addition to the series. Much darker than previous books and slower moving. Jonah plays a much bigger role in the story and Merit does show some growth as a character as well. Recommended to fans of vampire urban fantasy. I can’t wait to see what happens in Biting Cold
.

This book goes towards the following reading series:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge