Guest Review: When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason

Posted August 29, 2008 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 5 Comments

Brie‘s review of When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason, book four in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles.

Ruining Victoria’s homecoming, a vampire stalks the streets of London – during the daylight. Not only is Victoria unable to detect the vampire with her heightened senses, but she’s being framed as the prime suspect behind the killings.

Meanwhile, her heart is still divided between the enigmatic Sebastian Vioget and her fellow slayer Max Pesaro. The battle is made even more difficult by the legacy of a vampire’s touch – a vampire who left in Victoria’s veins boiling blood that forces her to fight evil on two fronts: against the new breed of undead threatening London, and against the darkness within herself.

When Twilight Burns picks up where The Bleeding Dusk left off. Victoria has been taken to the Consilium after being bitten by Sebastian’s grandfather, the Guardian Vampire, Beauregard. Though still unconscious, she is presumed to be a vampire by her closest friends, the vampire killing venators. Max is ready to stake Victoria in order to keep her from drinking from someone else as it would damn her soul to eternal hell. But when Victoria wakes it is quickly realized that she has not been turned, and other than a strange blood lust, occasionally seeing red (both of which Victoria keeps to herself), and the fact that Sebastian feels the same neck-prickling-chill around Victoria that venators feel around vampires, she is fine.

In this installment Victoria and the venators face a new threat. Now back in London and redying herself to turn over her late husband’s estate to his closest heir, Victoria is thrust back into fighting when there appears to be a vampire feeding on humans during the day. This is unheard of until now and when Victoria is the one to happen upon all of the recently dead bodies, her possible involvement in the deaths comes into question.

Victoria, Max and Sebastian must find out how it’s possible for a vampire to come out during the day, and put a stop to it in order to save all of human kind. This task won’t be an easy one, being that Victoria is still struggling with the after affects of being bitten, Max no longer has his venator powers, after giving them up in the last book, and Sebastian isn’t truly trusted by Victoria.

There is also the ever present question of where Victoria’s affections lie in this installment. Max and Sebastian continue to snip at each other. Their interactions are filled with more vitriol in this book than previous ones, and we learn what fuels their hatred for each other, besides Victoria. Victoria cannot seem to figure out whom she wants to be with: Max or Sebastian. The two are polar opposites and both have their positive qualities, but the stoic Max does not seem one to put his heart on the line, and the elusive Sebastian, who is willing to do just that, has proven himself to be untrustworthy in Victoria’s eyes more than once.

In the end, Victoria makes her final choice, which leaves one of them out in the cold. This ending was a bit sad, because the guy that does not win Victoria’s love is faced with a serious heartbreak, and not for the first time. One has to wonder if he will be able to find happiness by the final book.

Like each book before, When Twilight Burns adds further growth to Victoria’s character. From book one, we’ve seen her struggle with becoming a venator–and in a painful an unexpected turn of events–the leader of the Gardella. She has loved and lost and loved some more, she’s become a stronger leader, fighter, but most importantly, woman. Victoria’s growth has been an important arc in the series, and in it’s gradual evolution from book to book, Gleason has shown us, not told us, Victoria’s personal journey.

When Twilight Burns has it all. Edge of your seat action, twists and turns, unfortunate deaths, subtle romance, and lively characters. Fans of this series will enjoy this installment in the Gardella Chronicles. I look forward to the final book in this series, As Shadows Fade, in 2009.

4.5 out of 5