Possession…witches…werewolves…Satanic Cults, Rachel Harrison has covered some of the top iconic characters/tropes/creatures of the horror genre. With So Thirsty, she tackles perhaps the most iconic of all horror creatures, the Vampire.
A woman must learn to take life by the throat after a night out leads to irrevocable changes in this juicy, thrilling novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth and Black Sheep.
Sloane Parker is dreading her birthday. She doesn’t need a reminder she’s getting older, or that she’s feeling indifferent about her own life.
Her husband surprises her with a birthday weekend getaway—not with him, but with Sloane’s longtime best friend, troublemaker extraordinaire Naomi.
Sloane anticipates a weekend of wine tastings and cozy robes and strategic avoidance of issues she’d rather not confront, like her husband’s repeated infidelity. But when they arrive at their rental cottage, it becomes clear Naomi has something else in mind. She wants Sloane to stop letting things happen to her, for Sloane to really live. So Naomi orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers, only for it to take a horrifying turn that changes Sloane’s and Naomi’s lives literally forever.
The friends are forced to come to terms with some pretty eternal consequences in this bloody, seductive novel about how it’s never too late to find satisfaction, even though it might taste different than expected.
Sloane Parker’s husband sets her up with a girl’s getaway for her and her best friend Naomi for Sloane’s 36th birthday. Sloane is very much a by the book person, doesn’t take risks, and wants to live a life of relative safety. Naomi, on the other hand, is a free-spirited, world-traveler who lives a day-to-day existence. Despite that, the two women have been best friends. When Naomi draws the attention of some interesting Europeans at a local bar near their getaway spot, Sloane reluctantly agrees to join Naomi on this stranger’s invitation to a lavish mansion for a night of partying, against her better judgement. Remember, something of a control freak.
We learn that Sloane’s controlled, comforting home life is not quite what it seems. Her husband Joel has cheated on her more than once and though 36 is young, Sloane has some understandable fears about growing older. In other words, Sloane needs a weekend away, to let go. To go outside her normal comfort zone.
As the party at the mansion unfolds, Sloane grows increasingly uncomfortable with what she sees, despite the otherwise friendly nature of their hosts. Cue the enigmatic stranger named Harry to give Sloane reassurances and much needed physical attention. Just when Sloane is regaining a modicum of comfort thanks to the mesmerizing Harry, something terrifying happens and changes the course of the evening for Sloane and Naomi.
I doubt stating at this point the “Europeans” are vampires is much of a spoiler, the book has the subtitle “A Vampire Novel” emblazoned on the cover. Although I won’t go into too much detail about how Sloane and Naomi are drawn into a vampiric lifestyle, I will say that it was a critical juncture that relies strongly on the bonds of friendship Naomi and Sloan have shared for years.
Harrison’s strengths, in many of her novels, is the supportive, complex relationship of women with other women. Sisters or friends, Harrison presents that element at the forefront of her fiction in a very engaging fashion. One of the things I appreciated most about that element here in So Thirsty is that Harrison gives ample time in the novel to laying out the characterization of Sloane, her complicated feelings about her best friend, and their relationship. I would say about half of the novel was dedicated to that even before anything truly horrific happened.
Another thing Harrison has proven quite adept at in her tales of horror is having a big WHAM moment that changes the course of the narrative. The WHAM moment in Black Sheep was extremely powerful and the similar moment here in So Thirsty was nearly as effective. Both were great, don’t get me wrong.
While I zipped through the novel in just two days and enjoyed it a great deal, I will note that I would have appreciated a little more backstory to the vampires themselves. While they largely felt more like catalysts for the transformation Sloane and Naomi experienced, I still would like to know more about them. I also initially found Naomi to be kind of annoying. Maybe because I live a life of “comfort and safety” similar to the life Sloane has tried to build for herself, Naomi seemed like an almost unwanted agent of chaos. However, as the novel rolled along, I came to appreciate Naomi more and realized the balance she provided to Sloane.
Two films kept surfacing in my head while I was reading the novel, Kathryn Bigelow’s vampire masterpiece Near Dark and the iconic Thelma & Louise. A traveling band of vampire rogues, two women who rely on their friendship through challenging times (an extreme oversimplification, I know). I’m left wanting more, though. Of the novels I’ve read from her, this one feels the most like there’s more story to tell with the characters.
Random side note: This is two books in a row I’ve read by Rachel Harrison with some very local shout-outs: Hot Dog Johnny’s and Buttzville, NJ, both fairly close to me and places I’ve visited multiple times.
In the end, So Thirsty is another enormously entertaining novel from Rachel Harrison.
Highly Recommended.
© 2024 Rob H. Bedford
Hardcover | Berkley Publishing
September 2024 | 304 Pages
https://www.rachel-harrison.com/
Excerpt: https://penguinrandomhouselibrary.com/book/?isbn=9780593642542#tab-book-excerpt
Review copy courtesy of the publisher