Review: Compelling Characters in this Vampyre Series
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 7, 2013
"Nocturne" is C.K. Farrell's second entry in the Celtic Vampyre Saga, and it continues the story of the beautiful, human Faelynn and the vampyre with a soul, Nathaniel. In the first novel, "Disenchanted," Faelynn is on a quest to avenge her mother's death and find her father, and she's kept busy and fierce by slaying the vampyres in her way. When she runs into Nathaniel outside of a bar, their attraction is instant, and they form an unlikely partnership."Nocturne" keeps the same form as "Disenchanted," jumping back and forth between Nathaniel's life as a youth and then a young vampire, and the present.  We get a hint of how Nathaniel becomes a vampire--during a ferocious storm, he stumbles across a mysterious cottage, and whatever happens inside sends him out a vampire (I wish there had been some description of what happened in that cottage, and how Nathaniel felt about it before he turned, but maybe there will be in the third book). Soon after, Nathaniel brutally murders his true love's father, and then makes Martha his own in eternity.In the present day, Nathaniel and Faelynn give in to their temptation for each other, and engage in some X-rated love (this book is much racier than the last). Alongside the plot line of Faelynn attempting to hunt down Cormack the Cruel and find her father, there is also a side plot involving the leaders of the vampires in North America trying to form a unified whole under one ruler, and their debates and ambitions on the subject. How Nathaniel received his tattoo and what it means is also an excellent addition to his story.At the end of the last book, I was very interested in what happened to Nathaniel and Faelynn, and with the way this entry in the series ended, I still am. However, I do have to say that I wish more had happened in this book; there was a lot more talking than actual action, and I wanted action to push the plot forward. The author piqued my interest with Faelynn and Martha's strange connection (which I won't reveal, since I don't want to ruin any sort of surprise), but overall there wasn't enough going on.  It was also distracting when a word was used in a way that just wasn't quite right given the context or the sentence structure. Overall, though, I enjoyed it and plan on picking up the third novel to find out what happens to Faelynn and Nathaniel, fans of the vampire genre will likely enjoy this entry.