The closest I can compare Mark Teppo's writing style is Christopher Pike. He writes this refreshing mix of horror/paranormal thriller with almost brusque, military style and dizzying pace. I have to say, I really liked it once I got into it.

Teppo's vampires reminded me of Feehan's Dark Carpathians in one aspect - they live of the earth, it rejuvenates and heals them, but the more humans poison the planet the more difficult for them to survive - pollution, pesticides, various poisonous fluids and everything else that comes with technological "advance" kills them slowly but surely.

The vampires belong to Earth and communicate with it. They call themselves Arcadians and are known across the world as a radical eco-terrorist group.

We meet Silas first on a boat close to Japan while he and his fellow Arcadians observe a human eco group trying to stop Japanese corporation from whaling. On the same boat Silas notices an infamous independent journalist, Mere, whose life he once saved, and with whose fearlessness he became fascinated. Seeing Mere, Silas understand that there is some deep game, some unknown conspiracy involved if she investigates it, but what it is he only starts to find out later when he is on his own, injured, in the middle of toxic sea...

This book is full of conspiracies, global pharmaceutical corporations, mysterious human organisation working on creating weapons against Arcadians, genetic research and very gory fights.

Great strength of Earth Thirst is its original view on vampires, and its exotic locations from Easter Island to various countries in South America. It's a dizzying, puzzling, fast, action-packed and overall very exciting book. Recommended to all fans of Christopher Pike.

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Book Info: Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Those who are interested in a different take on vampires
Trigger Warnings: murder, violence, shooting

My Thoughts: Vampires as eco-warriors, a most interesting idea. Not only an unique take on vampires, but a unique take on the world in general, with a hidden war going on behind the scenes for millennia.

I'm not sure what to say about this story. There isn't a lot of character development, it's mostly action, but I definitely enjoyed reading it. The editing could have been better, but it is a galley, so hopefully any problems I noticed will have been fixed in the final copy. If you've been wanting something a little different about vampires, then definitely check this book out.

Disclosure: I received a copy from Night Shade Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: The Earth is dying. Humanity—over-breeding, over-consuming—is destroying the very planet they call home. Multinational corporations despoil the environment, market genetically modified crops to control the food supply, and use their wealth and influence and private armies to crush anything, and anyone, that gets in the way of their profits. Nothing human can stop them.

But something unhuman might.

Once they did not fear the sun. Once they could breathe the air and sleep where they chose. But now they can rest only within the uncontaminated soil of Mother Earth—and the time has come for them to fight back against the ruthless corporations that threaten their immortal existence.

They are the last guardians of paradise, more than human but less than angels. They call themselves the Arcadians. ( )

Silas is an Arcadian, a blood drinking, sun avoiding, earth dwelling child of the Mother, on a mission from her and the Grove to desperately try and combat the tide of destruction humanity inflicts on the planet. It’s a desperate fight, one they seem to have already lost, but the Arcadians have many gifts to help them.

Despite this, Silas’s latest mission falls apart, badly. So badly that it’s impossible that it was merely an accident. It seems the Grove itself may have been compromised and he cannot return to the Mother. Worse, his opponents had a new weapon, a chemical that burns Arcadians and does far more damage than simple bullets ever could to the ancient warriors.

He frees the only person he feels he can trust, Mere; an investigative journalist with strong experience in challenging large, multi-national agricultural companies and they begin unravelling the knot of what is actually happening

But as they travel the world, do the research and piece together Silas’s shattered memories, there’s clearly far more going on than they expected with at least 3 distinct players and it has ramifications far beyond Grove – and maybe even Mother isn’t what she seems.

I have to give this story all kinds of praise for its originality, because it has a truly remarkable concept. Vampires as environmental guardians, resisting the corruption and pollution of the world. The whole sleeping in native soil myth which Urban Fantasy often discards now brought back to have vampires connecting with the earth to heal, avoiding the sun because, combined with airborn pollutants, it harms their chemical sensitive bodies – it’s a wonderful twist on the old legends.

It’s tempting to think of these vampires, these Arcadians, as gentle because of their environmental leanings. Humans are over-consuming, polluting and, ultimately, disposable if not outright in need of culling. They are warriors and guardians, fully willing to use their deadly skills to protect the Mother.

The whole concept and the world here is incredible, and that’s just made more so by this globetrotting story across the southern hemisphere unveiling more and more of the mysteries around this multi-faceted conspiracy. It’s complex, it’s action packed, it’s extremely well paced and it’s huge – a true sense of being global about it

There’s also some great commentary on activism and empty gestures – ignoring corporate control and over consumption in favour of gesture politics that gets in the news and makes people feel good – the whole putting a “save the whales” sticker in your Hummer, mindset.

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I wasn't a particularly huge fan of the first Mark Teppo book I read, Lightbreaker, though it did have parts I enjoyed. However, I know Teppo's been part of the serialized Mongoliad books, so I decided to give this novel a read after several years of vampire book near-avoidance; and, I'm glad I did. Earth Thirst has excellent action, a suitably old vampire protagonist (I'm a sucker for "ageless" characters), naturally flowing dialogue, and unresolved mysteries that will lead into a sequel. It's not perfect (way too much convenient sleeping by a couple of adult characters, for example, though that's very minor), but it is a good, better-than-average story that has earned a very solid ( )