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Sunset (Pact Arcanum Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Arshad Ahsanuddin (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 505 ratings
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Book One of the scifi vampire saga Pact Arcanum. Warning: contains strong language and non-explicit depictions of gay sexuality.

An unlikely savior emerges to prevent the advent of mass destruction and genocide descending on the world…

By Day

Los Angeles, 2040. When the terrorist known as Medusa threatens to kill millions with a stolen nuclear bomb, Nick Jameson makes a fateful decision. He reveals himself on global television as a Daywalker - a vampire with a soul. To save Los Angeles, Nick exposes not only his own gifts but three separate cultures based on millennia-old magic.

By Night

The three metahuman races exist in careful balance, working to maintain a fragile peace. Nick and his fellow Daywalkers successfully master their natural bloodlust. The Sentinels, armed with both magic and steel, repress their warlike instincts. And even some Nightwalkers, normally their natural enemies, have deserted the Court of Shadows to join the triple alliance. Nick Jameson is deeply involved with two such Nightwalkers - handsome Lorcan and powerful Rory. Both men love Nick. But neither can protect the new Ambassador to Humanity from the events he has set in motion.

By the Sword

Jeremy Harkness was lured into Medusa's service under false pretenses. A loner with no one and nothing to cling to, he was willing to die for his cause. But the night Medusa tried to obliterate Los Angeles, Jeremy met Nick Jameson, triggering the onset of his own psychic gifts. For Jeremy is the third race of metahuman, a Sentinel, born to kill the Nightwalkers with no quarter asked or offered. And neither Medusa nor the Court of Shadows will settle for peace when they can make war.

Betrayal and treachery lurk around every corner on the road to coexistence, and at every turn, Nick must question who to trust among his metahuman allies, friends, and lovers—before their civilization is plunged into the depths of darkness and bloodshed. With millennia-old magic, emerging romance, and ever-shifting allegiances, this inventive series unveils a scintillating, homoerotic world of Nightwalkers, Daywalkers, Sentinels, and Humans, who battle for world dominance in the not-too-distant future.
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  1. Book 1 of 5
    Pact Arcanum
  2. Print length
    521 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    December 7, 2013
  6. File size
    1383 KB
  7. Page Flip
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  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Vampires, shifters, justice fighters, protectors, magic and advanced technology; at first glance, an impossible combination but one that will stir every reader's imagination and leave you asking - What just happened? Yes, the book is that good."
--Valentina Heart, The Romance Reviews

The Best Vampire Fiction Releases of 2011: "...the ambitious, grand-scale, science fiction backdrop and labyrinthinely plotted storyline was impressive, to say the least."
--Paul Goat Allen, Explorations: The B&N SciFi and Fantasy Blog

From the Author

Book One of the gay vampire saga Pact Arcanum. Revised 4th edition.

Warning: Contains strong language and non-explicit depictions of gay sexuality.

"Arshad has authored four full-length novels and a novella as part of the Pact Arcanum Saga: Sunset (Pact Arcanum: Book One); Sunrise (Pact Arcanum: Book Two); Moonlight (Pact Arcanum: Book Three); Starlight (Pact Arcanum: Book Four); and Cathedral of the Sky (Pact Arcanum 1.5). He has also written two short non-fiction works: First Words: 13 Short Essays on Writing from a Neophyte Author's Perspective and Stepwise: eBook and Print-on-Demand Formatting using Word 2010"

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005SIXXB2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amazon Digital Services; 4th edition (December 7, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 7, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1383 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 521 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1927528577
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 505 ratings

About the author

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Arshad Ahsanuddin

Arshad Ahsanuddin

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By profession, I am a hematopathologist, a laboratory physician who specializes in diagnosis of diseases of blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes, such as leukemia and lymphoma.

The Interscission Project is space opera/time travel/gay romance. My previous works are part of an unrelated paranormal romance series, the Pact Arcanum Saga, which consists of five books: Sunset, Cathedral of the Sky, Sunrise, Moonlight, and Starlight. It is best described as non-explicit, near-future gay vampire space opera. Yes, I realize the irony that I am a blood doctor who writes about vampires. ;)

Note: While each series conforms to standard conventions regarding the romance genre overall, I do not guarantee an HEA or HFN ending to any individual book within the series.

Visit my website PactArcanum.com, for more information about my work.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
505 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Nile Princess
5.0 out of 5 stars At Long Last
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2011
Verified Purchase
Not since Brian Lumley's Harry Keogh-verse, have I found a vampire series of this caliber. The author builds an extremely complex world that at times went over my head, but was always engaging, interesting and supremely intelligent. All of the characters resonated with me. You know a book is good when even the characters you dislike inspire you to think and re-evaluate your position. Nick, the main character, is incredibly multi-faceted and I liked that the author chose to, at times, humanize him and at others show him to be the bad ass that he is. The book is action packed and moves quickly. There is no drawing out of secrets to lengthen the story. You're practically on the edge of your seat the whole time. I shouted at this book, laughed out loud, had minor heart attacks....I was invested! My one complaint is that I hate when authors pair the main character with characters I dislike / find unworthy. Last guy in should not get the man! For the number of people that were in love with Nick (and by the third suitor things were starting to look Marty Stuish), the author's pick was my last choice. For those worried about the m/m aspect of the story, let me assure you that the physical aspect is never really focused on. There are zero sex scenes in this book; they're simply alluded to.

I know that I should read Book 2 next but it's the prequel to Book 1, and I just don't have that kind of patience. It's on to Book 3 for me. I will come back to it but I just need to see if Nick gets with the program in the romance department. Maybe the mortal can have a little accident...fighting Nightwalkers is quite dangerous work after all and Nick has many enemies. :-)

This is a full-length (300 page-ish) book that is WELL worth more than the Kindle price I paid. You will not be disappointed.
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Ian M. Walker
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, with problems.
Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2018
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I really enjoyed this one, at first.

It has elements I love, futuristic technology, magic and vampires. It even has a gay elemeny and so should have been right up my alley.

Unfortunately, it became more and more difficult to empathise with and even like the characters, particularly the main protagonist. His tantrums and deadly rages stretched the suspension of disbelief.

I always strive for no spoilers and just generalisms in my reviews but two incidents really spoilt the story for me. One was during a reception where the President and First Lady of the United States were in attendance and had just been told that the eyes of the world would be on them to reveal how life was among the Free People (the supernatural). So what better time for the protagonists lover to throw a hissy fit and storm off with the protagonist (an Ambassador).

The other was the absurd and murderous overreaction of our protagonist to an accident by another.

This person shouldn't be in a position of leadership, being fawned over and excused by all and sundry (and just bow many unrequited, frustrated livers does one man need in a story?) but should be locked up for the good of all!

I was impressed with the technology, the marrying of ancient tradition with modern interactions and procedures and the structure of the different groups.

I'm not sure whether or not I'll try another in the series. Perhaps when I've emptied more of my queue.

Recommended, with caution.
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LilMar
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing world, amazing book!
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2015
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I could NOT put this book down. Bought it on a whim because I liked the cover and the synopsis sounded good. Gotta tell you, I was hooked from the first page!
Nick has died three times and is one of the "new breed" of vampires, Daywalkers, who have their soul back. He's a little reckless and sometimes does things without thinking them through.
When a terrorist threatens the city of Los Angeles, Nick steps in and reveals the whole shebang to the humans, right on international TV. The ruling council of the Triumvirate decides to use this to their advantage and makes him the "face" of the metahumans (are you with me so far?) --and that's where things start to twist. There's so much riding on this, billions of lives, war is predicted, battles are fought for every loyalty, love is found and put off, but through it all, I could not wait to turn another page. Twists, turns, things I did not see coming, but I loved it from start to finish.this is sci-fi/fantasy, whatever you want to call it, just read it!
HIGHLY recommended reading, I will be buying the others, and if I can get my hands on them in print, I will most certainly be reading them again and adding them to my keeper shelf.
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Jason Almonte
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Story, Impeccably Written
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2014
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Sunset is an extremely well written gay vamp sci fi book. And this from a reader of mostly Elizabethan fiction. Jumping from Pride and Prejudice to Sunset was an easy adjustment, though, as the author's characters as well-defined, very likeable and very readable. The storyline in Sunset moves along at a perfect clip, with fascinating sidelines that develop plot and characters flawlessly. The subject may sound sci fi cheesy, but in Sunset it isn't. My best review for Sunset...I just bought the sequel.
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Top reviews from other countries

Frank
5.0 out of 5 stars Mind blowing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2018
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I am totally gob smacked. I can compare this book only with the Dune saga which I worship. It is a total imaginative creation of a world and a culture beyond our experience. I admit that it is not light reading and requires work but if you allow it to it will reward you a thousand fold. Do not be put off by the formality of this world you will be immersed in. Once you surrender to the fact that it is part of the imaginative tour de force you will learn to live in that world and forget the old one around you. Deepest congratulations and thanks to the author.
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IPSG101
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on August 31, 2015
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Good one.......
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sumit sabal
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in India on July 13, 2015
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nice book
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Juniper Green
3.0 out of 5 stars What a ride...
Reviewed in Germany on January 19, 2015
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Oh my holy over-the-topness!
Whatever happened to the credo of „Less is more“ - Ahsanuddin ignored it cheerfully while writing Sunset.
Mixing vampire myths with magic, urban fantasy, high fantasy, sci-fi, and space opera, he definitely created a more than complex world. Which let to a lot of info-dumping, over-explanatory dialogue – and also to quite a wild ride.

Beware! Everything here's over-exacurated: The superpowers of the three metahuman races; the number of names, nicknames, ranks and titles (thank goodness I'm rather good with names and have already survived 5 books of A Song of Ice and Fire, otherwise I might have ended up confused); the soap-opera-like emotional drama; last but not least, the number of people infatuated with Nick, the MC. Frankly, the whole love pentagon irritated me to no end. For being almost omnipotent, sometimes centuries-old metahumans with astonishing superpowers, the characters behaved rather like lovesick teenagers. Very possessive lovesick teenagers. (Personally, I really dislike possessive behavior. Major turnoff, even with vampires, and one reason why I avoid most shapeshifter stories with their whole mating-thing. Like shifters, these vampires are overly possessive, it's their nature; I guess I just have to live with that.) It wouldn't have been so annoying, though, if all those feelings had been able to reach me. But I stayed strangely detached from the characters, was rather told what they felt than shown their emotions.

I also stumbled upon my biggest no-go in writing: unnecessary circumscriptions. The other vampire, the younger vampire, the older man – don't do that, please! What's so wrong with using names and pronouns? It was all the more annoying as apart from that, Sunset was rather decently written, in a crisp and unpresumptious prose.

Having said that: Most of the time I enjoyed reading Sunset. It was a bit like watching “American Horror Story”: Too much of everything, but good fun nonetheless. I'm a sucker for political intrigues and I love me some decent plotting and scheming – and Sunset certainly delivered. I would've liked a bit less drama and more space-travel, a bit less telling and much more showing, less dialogue, more action; but Sunset still is a captivating page-turner. I also liked the non-linear, non-chronological way of story-telling. That might not be for everyone – I think it really worked in favor of the story here, presenting the events piece for piece, like a complex puzzle.

With all the impressive world building and all the scheming, character development lacked a bit, especially where Nick was concerned. I didn't get why everyone was in love with him, I didn't really care for him; there seemed to be a bit of development towards the end, but again: I was rather told than shown. But while I would've preferred more depth and a deeper insight into the characters' motivations, Ahsanuddin managed to make most of these characters seem interesting enough, presenting them in a way that makes it easy for every reader to pick his or her own favorites - mine being Ana, Takeshi, and Layla. I kind of liked Jeremy and Lorcan/Ruarc, too. And I'm really curious about Rafael, as well as looking forward to get Toby's story eventually.
So, yes, I will be reading on – if not immediately.
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James Gower
4.0 out of 5 stars A good setting, an intriguing set of characters and an interesting story.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 30, 2014
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The setting written by Arshad is as mentioned by another reviewer absolutely fascinating, you can tell that a lot of thought has gone into the world that has been created. The world is something that has been done in the past, but it is refreshing to have it aimed at the politics and its respective backstabbing rather than anything else more action orientated. The whole a secret society or culture living along side humanity is a tried and tested idea, the major difference is that they have both high technology and magic instead of one or the other.
The characters are intriguing, not the most in-depth maybe as it is extremely easy to tell how every character is going to react to something before you read it. My biggest issue with the characters I will be honest is that out of the half a dozen or so primary male characters all but one seems to be homosexual, now I do not have an issue with homosexuality, far from it in fact, but it does seem a little too weighted in that direction, I agree romance is an integral part of any story especially a politics driven story like this, but that still does not explain why nearly every male character is gay, especially as it does not any political intrigue to it as homosexuality is completely accepted and respected.
The story is frankly in my opinion a bit cut and dry for what would be expected of a political intrigue, there does not appear to be any sub plots that can be easily seen separate from the main plot, bar the issues that seem to plague the main character in his love life. But those in themselves can be seen as part of the main plot line of the story. My other issue I will be honest although this is probably a more personal preference is that it seems to jump from past to present to past to past to present, I can understand why it was done, as it does add a little bit of understanding to the way some of the characters think and a little back-story to why some of the characters are like they are, but in my experience the same can be done with the characters thinking about it in the present rather than having a chapter heading specifically for something that seems to vary in length each time.

Overall it is a good attempt of a story, and I will be recommending it to a few friends who are more partial to this kind of story than myself. But although I may not like it to the extent of others I can and will happily admit I will most likely use the series as a change of pace to what I usually read. I just hope the rest have a little less of a sexual setting.
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