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Hemovore  By  cover art

Hemovore

By: Jordan Castillo Price
Narrated by: Joel Leslie
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Publisher's summary

Mark Hansen thought working as artist's assistant would be glamorous, especially if that artist was a vampire. Black tie events, witty repartee, gracing the pages of the local style section. Didn't happen. Not even once.

Jonathan Varga is an enigma. True, he's quiet, generous, and scrupulously polite. But he has zero social life, refuses to be interviewed or photographed, and insists he can only consume feline blood.

Why supermarket blood won't suffice, Mark hasn't asked. He's rarely at a loss for words - he can dish an insult and follow it with a snap as quick as you can say "Miss Thang." But one look at Jonathan's black-as-sin gypsy eyes, and Mark's objections drain away.

So he endures the perpetual grind of their routine: Jonathan hiding in his studio, swiping black paint onto black canvases. Mark hurling insults while he buffs the office to a shine with antiviral wipes. Each of them avoiding the other in a careful choreography...until a blurb in Art in America unleashes a chain of harrowing events neither of them could foresee.

As secrets from Jonathan's past are brought to light, it becomes clear that all his precautions weren't nearly enough.

©2009, 2017 Jordan Castillo Price (P)2017 Jordan Castillo Price
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ+

What listeners say about Hemovore

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

New take on the Vampire Lore.

This was another terrific story by the wonderful Jordan Castillo Price. Her Psy-Cop series is one of my favorites.
The story begins with Mark, a 40 something snarky, aging gay clothes hound, who is the personal assistant to Jonathan. Jonathan is a V+pos. All of society is now separated by 2 catagories "v-neg or v+pos". V+pos being the highly contagious Vampire virus that is 85% fatal. It defines every single detail of society now. V+pos persons are treated as pariah, and every one wears gloves outside their own homes for fear of contagion. In many ways V+pos is reminiscent mixing of the old "jim crow" laws with a mixture of the societal hysteria during the first days of HIV/aids. IE: separate bathrooms, separate sections of public places, and special disposable gloves for everyone.
Mark goes about his days running the personal errands, securing the blood, and liaison for business matters for Jonathan, who is quiet, shy, eccentric and paints giant solid black works of art. (It turns out that V+pos people can acually see colors in the art).
This very dull and predictable life all gets sent careening out of control with the appearance of a very powerful eastern european mobster who is after Jonathan. Jonathan has been hiding in plain site in NYC for many years, thinking Laslo wants to kill him for infecting him with V.
As the 2 men run for their lives in a pretty tense game of cat and mouse, history, circumstances and the real truth of Jonathan's past unfold, all the while providing an environment of closeness that allows the men to slowly reveal their mutual feelings for each other.
This story was enjoyable on many levels, Its different!! Its has a somber serious disease at the forefront, but Mark is a sarcastic, super funny protaganist who infuses humor into the story. There are some very sweet tender moments between Mark and Jonathan that are very Hot without a single touch or mention of sex. And it is slowly, slowly revealed that each has been suffering silent unrequited feelings for a long time.
Joel Leslie is a king of narration. His skills are brilliant as always. Any book he narrates is pretty much an auto buy for me, even an unknown author or genre. He breathes colorful, vibrant life into the characters of any story he performs. One of my favorite narrators.

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14 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Who was hiding Jordan Castillo Price from me?!?!?

I absolutely loved this audiobook. Mark and Jonathan's journey is like no vampire story I've encountered before, much less as a romance. This is my first book by Jordan Castillo Price and I'm at a loss as to how I've not read this author before.

I don't even know how to adequately explain how much I enjoyed Hemovore, but as someone who lived with HIV+ person for nearly a decade, I could understand on a basic level the concerns that Mark had when it came to contracting the Hemovore virus from Jonathan. Fortunately, HIV is not transmitted through casual contact as the Hemovore virus is in the world Price has created, so I did not have to be as cautious as Mark did. I cannot imagine spending so much time with someone I loved or even cared about and never being able to touch them - then again, that was often how many people treated those who were HIV+ in the early days of the disease and the parallels that Price draws in the novel are a stark and frightening reminder of how badly people were and still are, in some cases, treated. The addition of the threat from Jonathan's past does an excellent job of propelling the story and the relationship forward as the two men are put through the ringer as they try to survive a psychopath, evade law enforcement, and keep the implosion of their world from destroying them. Price does an excellent job of weaving the romance and the action & suspense together in a believable and easily rooted for manner. And Joel Leslie does a wonderful job of bringing Price's words and characters to life in such a way that I was hard pressed to press pause when the real world came knocking at my door (you know, work, sleep, feeding the dog, etc).

As I did not read the original version, I cannot comment on the revisions Price made to update the story. However, I can report that the added novelette, Sweet, was an absolute treat that I enjoyed immensely.

I already want to listen to Hemovore again so that I don't have to leave Mark and Jonathan behind, the world Price created for them, or the impressive narrative performance by Leslie that made the story even more entertaining.

AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent vampire romance

I've read many of Jordan Castillo Price's novels and they've never failed to thrill and this is no exception.
I love that this doesn't follow the predictable conventions, with a middle aged and not gorgeous protagonist. He's very human and all the more appealing because of it.
The world building is fascinating with a unique take on vampirism as a blood born virus. It has a high mortality rate, but if you survive you look like a Michaelangelo sculpture for eternity as well as drinking blood. I love the vampire culture that's built up throughout the book. With vampire soap operas and mention of an influential vampire movie starring Demi Moore and John Travolta released years back, you can see how the vampire virus not only changed the world but created a subculture that is both foreign and familiar.
There is a strong subtext of vampire's treatment in society comparable to how HIV+ people are treated with fear and prejudice. Moments where our vampire hero Jonathon tries to pass as "V negative" resonated with me with how LGBT people also sometimes have to pass as straight for their own safety.
Our protagonist Mark has been Jonathon's personal assistant for years, crushing on the reclusive eccentric vampire artist seemingly without hope. When a murderous vampire ex lover from Jonathon's past goes on a destructive cross country rampage the two men go on the run. The truth of Jonathon's past and his feelings for Mark are revealed.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

loved... so Sweet!

the author, the story, the narrator... all combined made this story even better than the first time I read it. Joel Leslie was the perfect choice for Mark. He does the accents, timing, and emotes so well!!! and the *Sweet* short at the end.. couldn't be more romantic than if I'd seen it on the Hallmark Channel. This story left me with a wistfulness, and a sigh for the romantic ending. Thank you dear author AND narrator for making a good story even better.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

Perfect marriage of story and narrator

Audio: 5 stars. There are times when narration destroys a great book, times when narration elevates a good book, and then there are times when the narrator and the book are so perfect for each other that it's impossible that anyone else could have narrated the book.

Hermovore and Joel Leslie are that team.

He captured all the voices exactly as I imagined them, the accents were amazing (even a throwaway cop from Chicago was nailed), and I will forever read this book (when I'm not listening again) with his characterization in my head. If you loved this book, and you're an audiobook fan, you have to get this. If you liked this book, you will love it after listening. And, if you haven't experienced it yet, this is the perfect way to do so.



Book: 2nd edition provided by author for honest review.

I enjoyed this a lot more the second time I read it. JCP's books are always enjoyable, but some grab me more than others. The first time I read this, I liked it, this time I liked it a lot more. Partially that was probably because I caught more things on the re-read, and partially it was because of the very sweet short added to the end of the book, appropriately entitled, Sweet.

This is a new take on the vampire trope with all the usual JCP grittiness. It is a story about two very guarded men, that through a series of unusual, and extremely tense situations finally admit to their feelings for each other. JCP is amazing at writing difficult characters that aren't easy to love, but making you love them anyway, Mark is definitely one of those characters. Jonathan is an enigma until everything goes down, then we slowly get to see who he really is. It was also often pretty hilarious, I laughed out loud more than a few times. Even on the re-read I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen, that's pretty amazing, since I already knew what was going to happen. The addition of the short makes it sweet in a way that isn't often present in her books, which was nice as a change.

Definitely worth the read, and something that I'm sure I will be re-reading in years to come.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic!

I first read this story two years ago. I loved it then and I love it even more in audio!!! Joel Leslie did a fantastic job with all the unique voices, although I though Mark was a little over the top, Johnathan and all the rest were perfect.

I loved the way the author took so much consideration into what the world would be like with the hemovore virus.

It’s a slow burn romance with only one furtive sex act, but it is exactly perfect.

I loved the bonus story and the authors note where she explains some of the changes she made in this edition.

I definitely recommend!!

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perfect book was perfect

I don't really know what to say other than this was the best audio book I've ever listened to. Joel Leslie complemented the story so well it felt like it was written with the sole intention of him narrating it.

I have the BIGGEST book hangover now and I'm unsure as to how I'm going to get over it, how I'm going to listen to anything else and not compare it to this.

The story moved me. I think I loved it even more than her Psycop series. I loved Mark's cattiness and Jonathan's mysterious stoicism. In a fantastical book filled with vampires, over the top antics and shenanigans, the story felt surprisingly real to me. I connected with Mark. I understood him. I related to him.

I can't recommend this enough. If you haven't listened to this amazing story yet, I urge you to do so now. I guarantee you won't be sorry that you did.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

B rating...

My Review:
Overall: 3.75
Performance: 4.0
Story: 3.5

This story is so incredibly creative. In this world, vampires have come about from a highly contagious virus. No one is more aware of that virus's potential than Mark, who works as a personal assistant to Jonathan, a vampire artist. Mark is fastidious in his cleaning to make sure that nothing is ever left with germs from Jonathan. He's very OCD.

This entire book is told from Mark's pov. He's had a crush on Jonathan for years, but can't risk the virus, so it's a crush from afar. But when life changes very drastically for the two men, all those feelings that they've both been denying come to the forefront...just as a result of all the stress.

This is a story where the romantic relationship doesn't happen for a long, long time. It was a VERY slow build. It's also really hard to get to know Jonathan because the story is only told inside Mark's pov. Overall, it worked, because the story is incredibly interesting. I need a dual pov though. The single kept the story from being as satisfying for me without it.

But I do recommend the audiobook. Joel Leslie always does a good job and his accents in this one were spot-on delicious!

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Audio Made A Good Story Even Better

I had read this expanded story several months ago. It was a solid, enjoyable read for me. The story offers a solid plot with action and strong characterizations. As I mentioned in my book review "JCP offers up a different take on vampires and in the process, builds an intriguing universe."

However, Joel Leslie's narration made this even better as an audiobook. He added a dimension to the characters, especially Mark's snap & snark. It would've been easy to overdo the accent to distinguish the characters, but JL had a deft touch which didn't overwhelm the story and still allowed me tell the characters apart. I like Joel Leslie as a narrator and I think he excels at timing and pacing the story. Well worth a listen!

I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

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So Much Fun I Needed a Transfusion

It's the first book I've read by this author and I'll definitely be going back for more. It's a fantastic new take on vampirism. And Joel Leslie's narration -- awesome, as always. I have to keep looking for new superlatives. He's stressing the hell out of my thesaurus!

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