Hungers of the Heart is the fourth book in Jenna Black's "Guardians Of The Night" series, and it certainly helps to have read the previous books to follow the events and characters in this one. The focus of this story is
on Drake, a Killer (a vampire who kills humans for food) who is allowed to live by the Guardians because of his moral stance about those he kills for food. However, as the book opens, Drake is accused by one of the Guardians in Philadelphia of killing an undercover cop, and he's forced to go to Baltimore and join the small group of Guardians there led by Gabriel.
Unfortunately, once Drake arrives he discovers that Gabriel has been kidnapped by Brigitte.
Within a very short time, a delegation arrives from Paris led by Armand Durant, who has been tasked by his superior, La Vielle, to dispose of Gabriel. As Gabriel has been kidnapped, Drake has to try to take his place in holding together the small band of vampires against those much stronger than they. When Drake also meets with Faith, Armand's concubine, and Faith's sixteen-year-old mortal sister, he finds himself having to take their needs into account rather than just working to dispose of Armand and all his followers.
Faith's life since she mistakenly trusted a man who turned out to be a vampire six years before has been a long mission to keep her sister safe. She hates Armand but knows that she has little chance of surviving
were she to leave him, so she bides her time. When she finds a sympathetic ear in Drake, there's a chance
- but can the machinations of Brigitte and Henri, as well as Drake's Maker, Padraig, prevent a reasonable future for them?
Jenna Black's writing style is very good with excellent pacing, a varied list of characters, and some interesting moral dilemmas for her characters. Hungers of the Heart is much heavier on the vampire politics than the romance; in fact, the romance feels
more like a sideline to the plot and not much time is spent on it. It is interesting,
though, to see events from Drake's, Faith's, Armand's and Charles's minds, especially as none of the characters are either completely good or completely bad. However, this reader found that, overall, the book
isn't entirely satisfying. It feels more like a transitional story than a complete story in its own right, and the lack of focus on Drake and Faith
is a slight disappointment.