Review: Thirst #3, The Eternal Dawn (2010)

Alisa has spent the past five thousand years as a vampire, living alone and fighting for survival. In her loneliness, Alisa cannot resist bringing Teri--a descendant of her human family--into her life. But Alisa is surrounded by death and destruction, and just by knowing Alisa, Teri's life is at risk...

Thirst No. 3: The Eternal Dawn, by Christopher Pike, is the seventh novel in the Last Vampire series. While all the events in the previous books did indeed happen, there is a twist: Seymonr had connected to Sita' mind during the time of her adventures and experienced everything that happened with her. Her adventures became the basis of Seymour's novels. While his book ending has Sita returning to past as a human, she actually returns to the present as a vampire after defeating Landulf in the sixth novel. Fast forward 15 years later, Seymour finally meets Sita in person.

Sita encounters one of her long-lost human descendants, Teri (Teresa) Raine, a track-and-field college athlete. Sita knows that she should not get close to her Teri because anyone who becomes close ends up dead. However, Sita feels a connection with Teri. Knowing Teri leads to Matt, Teri's boyfriend. Matt is another mystery that Sita cannot figure out. Nonetheless, Sita will do everything she can to help Teri reach her personal and professional goals.

Meanwhile, a covert organization knows about Sita's secret and will stop at nothing to use her powers for their cause. As Sita tries to protect herself and Teri from the dangerous unknown enemy, she discovers a force more powerful and lethal than she has ever seen in her 5,000 years of existence. Furthermore, an ancient race of immortals want to unleash a deadly virus with the potential to wipe out humanity. Sita travels with Matt to Europe to search for clues on the immortals. There is little time to waste. Sita doesn't know who to trust or how to face the challenges ahead of her.

Legendary thriller author Christopher Pike amazingly resurrects the story from where it left off from the original six-novel installment in The Last Vampire series. The renamed "Thirst" series (books 7-9) now includes three new additions: The Eternal Dawn, The Shadow of Death, and the Sacred Veil. Hardcore fans will be ecstatic to learn that Sita (also known as Alisa Perne) lives! Pike cleverly starts the book from the perspective of This time around, Sita faces unimaginable challenges that will test her sanity, endurance, and fears. 15 years from the end of the last book, Sita is alive and well. I find it so amazing how Pike pulls this feat off so smoothly. He kept all the rich elements that made the original installment successful in the 1990s.

Why do I keep reading this series? I love Sita's bravery, ability to act under pressure, and empathy for others. She is not perfect, and she makes tons of mistakes. She knows how to learn from her mistakes. That is what fans love about her. Pike dwells into deep themes like death, love, redemption, faith, and loss/grief, which will resonate well with his fan base, who are now be in their 30s. Pike sends a strong message of love and struggle in his novels. As Sita learns, life is such a precious thing to hold onto and appreciate.

Stay tuned for the next novel in the Thirst series, The Shadow of Death.