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    Nocturna
    Nocturna
    Nocturna
    Audiobook14 hours

    Nocturna

    Written by Maya Motayne

    Narrated by Kyla Garcia

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The first in a sweeping and epic debut fantasy trilogy—set in a stunning Latinx-inspired world—about a face-changing thief and a risk-taking prince who must team up to defeat a powerful evil they accidentally unleashed. Perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi, Leigh Bardugo, and V. E. Schwab.

    To Finn Voy, magic is two things: a knife to hold under the chin of anyone who crosses her…and a disguise she shrugs on as easily as others pull on cloaks.

    As a talented faceshifter, it’s been years since Finn has seen her own face, and that’s exactly how she likes it. But when Finn gets caught by a powerful mobster, she’s forced into an impossible mission: steal a legendary treasure from Castallan’s royal palace or be stripped of her magic forever.

    After the murder of his older brother, Prince Alfehr is first in line for the Castallan throne. But Alfie can’t help but feel that he will never live up to his brother’s legacy. Riddled with grief, Alfie is obsessed with finding a way to bring his brother back, even if it means dabbling in forbidden magic.

    But when Finn and Alfie’s fates collide, they accidentally unlock a terrible, ancient power—which, if not contained, will devour the world. And with Castallan’s fate in their hands, Alfie and Finn must race to vanquish what they have unleashed, even if it means facing the deepest darkness in their pasts.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMay 7, 2019
    ISBN9780062911117
    Author

    Maya Motayne

    Maya Motayne decided to be a writer when she was four years old and hasn’t stopped writing since. Her first novel, Nocturna, was a Los Angeles Times bestseller as well as a #1 Sunday Times bestseller. Maya lives in New York City, where she pursues her passions of petting as many dogs as possible and buying purses based on whether they can fit a big book in them. To learn more about Maya, visit her website at mayamotayne.com.

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    Reviews for Nocturna

    4/5

    290 ratings179 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I really liked this. I love how the vampires aren't traditional. Its pretty slow at first, but not so slow that you feel like it isn't worth reading. I really picks up around the middle. It reads like a movie at some parts, but its still good. Id definitely recommend to anyone who likes a good vamper book. I know I did. Ill be picking up the second book in this trilogy for sure.
    • 4/5
      What can I say? This book was awesome. I could not put it down and cannot wait for the next book to come out. This is definitely a different type of vampire story compared to what has been coming out recently. When that plane landed and all systems go down you get that sense of impending doom. You know it’s not looking good for any of the passengers or their family yet you cannot help but hope for some miracle that will save them. The story was nicely paced to keep you engaged yet not feel rushed. I also liked the fact that although there is some blood and gore the story doesn’t rely on that and instead utilizes just enough to get your imagination going. When this book comes out I highly recommend it to those who like a combination of medical thriller and suspense novels.
    • 5/5
      This is a vampire novel for the 21st century. Forget the sissified vampires of the Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse novels, Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan show vampires for the ultimate predators that they are. The novel sets a tone of terror from the first page, and I found myself numerous times shuddering when thinking how badly I would fare if their vampires were real. The main characters feel very real, and I love the idea of framing the discovery of the vampires through the eyes of an infectious diseases specialist. I can't wait for the next book in the series!
    • 5/5
      This is a fast-paced, modern, vampire story. CDC's best epidemiologist (?) Eph Goodweather just wants to be a good dad. He's enjoying an afternoon of videogames with his son when he gets a call about a plane that has come into the airport and completely shut down. There are no responses from passengers or crew and there are dead bodies on the plane. He has to figure out what is going on. After getting the four survivors off the plane and into quarantine and then having to release them, an violent infection begins to spread through New York. Now he is forced to join the fight with a Holocaust survivor and a pest-control specialist to battle a centuries old vampire who has begun a feeding frenzy on the people of the Big Apple. This is part one of the Strain trilogy and you will be begging for part two (The Fall) and three (Night Eternal-doesn't come out til October. I know, I checked....:)) I recommend to anyone who enjoys scary vampires or loved Dawn of the Dead.
    • 2/5
      UPDATED : Finally got this from the library and finished it off. It was interesting and proposes a new, scientific approach to vampire legend, yet rambled and some of the events jumped around in a way that made it feel like a movie that had too many scenes cut out. I'll probably give it another chance and pick up the next one, just because I'm a vampire junkie, yet I can't REALLY recommend this book unless you've got some time to kill on a plane or something.(old notes)Mr. Burns peed on this book so I had to pitch it. Apparently he's sick of all the vamp media I've been involved in lately (just finished True Blood season 1, and have been watching Being Human on BBC America). Anyways, this one got sidelined : glad it wasn't a library book!!
    • 4/5
      A good take on the vampire legend, added with the ever present fear of disease spreading. A fast paced read without gratuitous violence and sex that seems to be a staple for some authors in the horror genre.
    • 4/5
      It would be a significant understatement to say that I am not a vampire fan. I haven’t avoided the genre entirely (It’s almost impossible to do so these days.), but even a hint of fangs is usually enough to send me running in the opposite direction. Fortunately, there are no fangs in this first collaboration between filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan. They’re not that kind of vampire. Oh, no, these vampires are far worse. These vampires are just the slightest bit… plausible. Enough so that, frankly, this book scared the hell out of me. It didn’t help that I read it on a plane.The novel opens with a 777 landing normally at JFK. Once the plane is safely down, however, all systems go dead. There is no power, no communication, no one opens a door. Nothing. Fearing they’ve got a hostage situation on their hands, the authorities are called in. What they find is infinitely more disturbing.I don’t want to say much more than that this is a novel about an epidemic. Two of the central characters are CDC epidemiologists who take a very scientific look at the events unfolding in New York. And that is why the book was so effective in frightening me. I don’t believe in supernatural boogeymen, but the monsters in this book were presented in an all-too-believable way. Aside from that, it was just plain gross and creepy as hell. I’ve read Chuck Hogan’s solo work, and he’s a fine prose stylist. Guillermo Del Toro, on the other hand, knows how to tell a story and has a fine visual sense. The two of them working together are a truly powerhouse combo. In addition to scaring the heck out of me, they kept me turning the pages at a lightning pace. While The Strain is clearly a horror novel, it is also very much a thriller.Fortunately, I had the sequel, The Fall, immediately on hand for when I finished The Strain’s cliffhanger ending. I dived straight into the second book, but I’ll take my time reading it. I’ve got a year to wait for the third and final book in the trilogy.
    • 3/5
      I actually started reading this book at night while traveling on an airplane and had to put it down after the first few chapters because it gave me a case of the willies. The story begins with the discovery of a plane which had landed at JFK with all aboard dead, not something that I wanted to be reading up in the air. After I got home and picked it up again, the willies disappeared and disappointment set in. The Strain has its moments, but if you've read any vampire novels at all, you've read this book. Not only are there replays of several vampire books (especially Matheson's I Am Legend, but also They Thirst by McCammon, Salem's Lot by Stephen King, Brian Lumley's fabulous Necroscope and more) but if you've read any of the Repairman Jack series or the Adversary cycle of F. Paul Wilson (especially elements of The Keep), you will recognize basic character and plot elements in the story. In short, this has all been done before, which is very sad, because basically reading a rerun tended to make the book much less suspenseful, and I have to say that I accurately predicted the end which most likely leads to the action in book two. I haven't really had a good horror novel in my hands lately, and had been hoping to allow myself a good scare, but alas, it was not to be with this book. I really wanted to like it, but I did not.However, the overall rating everywhere seems to be a 4/5, so maybe I'm just more demanding in what I'm searching for in a horror novel. I'd recommend it to readers of vampire horror fiction, with the caveat that if you've read some of the best books in the genre, be prepared for a rehash mishmash.
    • 3/5
      After really loving Justin Cronin's 'The Passage" I was up for another vampire-scifi sort of story & this fit the bill. It felt a little meandering at the beginning but possibly that was because I was itching to get to the outbreak & gory details. This one delivered & while the format didn't really pull me in to any character in particular, I enjoyed it. I'm glad I picked this one up at the library & I will continue with the series.
    • 5/5
      I read this book because I wanted to see how it differed from the TV series that aired on Fox. I am happy to say that the book differs enough to warrant reading the rest of the trilogy. The main characters are all there plus a few extras to paint a better picture of what is going on in the book. It's not quite the page turner that I thought it would be but that's likely because I've seen the TV series already. I look foreword to reading the other two books.
    • 4/5
      3.5 stars

      This was a reread for me, well actually a relisten (is that a word?); I read it when it was first released in 2009, and listened to the Audible version this time around. Someday I may even watch the TV show.

      Just about everyone knows who Guillermo del Toro is: the genius filmmaker of the dark and fantastic. It’s no surprise his first fictional jaunt is The Strain, complete with the expected ghastly atmosphere. This is a suspenseful story of a vampiric infection threatening to engulf all of New York City in a tale that is half horror and half police procedural. Yes, you read that right.

      The story itself is huge, following about a dozen characters through the initial stages of the vampire invasion. While there is a truck-load of vampire clichés, for the most part, it works. The vampires are creatures of the night; they aren’t glitzy angst-ridden teenagers, they are horrific monsters on the hunt. Boiled down, it’s the story of an ancient vampire being hunted by a Van Helsing character.

      As I said earlier, I listened to the Audible version. I don’t often reread books, but seeing that Ron Perlman was narrating this one “forced” me to burn an Audible credit. One of my favorite actors, he is an able narrator, handling a New York accent, a Russian/Romanian accent, and an Hispanic accent with ease.

      I knew what I was getting into when I started this one. Overall, this book is an enjoyable, “jumpy” read, as long as you realize you have to suspend reality and not expect too much. It is, after all, a vampire book. How much reality do you expect?
    • 4/5
      Rating: 4 of 5Status updates - 2/7/2012, page 185: For sure a real page-turner. The "vampires" make me think of Blade II; I wonder if there will be other similarities to del Toro's films?2/13/2012, page 401: Enjoyed the Ancient Ones aka Masters. The virus wasn't original. A lot of characters to track at first. Want to know more about slayers.
    • 4/5
      A plane lands at JFK airport and goes dark. No one can raise the pilots and no signs of life exist. The window shades are drawn and there is no movement to be seen. Unsure of what to do and concerned about a deadly infection, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is called in to investigate and asked to find the cause of what is believed to be the simultaneous deaths of all the passengers on board.Dr. Ephraim (Eph) Goodweather heads up the CDC 's Canary Project, a rapid repose team setup to deal primarily with problems of this nature. He gathers his team and heads to the airport and once there finds what appears to be a plane full of dead passengers with no explainable cause of death. There are no visible injuries and the air is clean making an initial diagnosis impossible. While checking individuals for signs of any struggle or sickness, four survivors are found. Also found, a large black box full of dirt in the cargo hold that is not listed on any manifest.Back at the hospital, Eph is not able to find anything wrong with the few survivors and the coroner is finding more than he can explain in his lab. Not knowing what they are dealing with, Eph makes an attempt to lock down the few survivors and hold bodies in the morgue but is unable. Soon after, bodies go missing from the morgue, and unbeknown to Eph and anyone else at the hospital or the CDC, the four survivors begin to evolve into something dark, sinister, and deadly.Enter Abraham Setrakian --- vampire hunter. His first attempts to plead his case to Eph fail but eventually his is able to convince him with an interesting show and tell display with a one of a kind specimen. With help from Nora, a member of Eph's Canary team and Fet a city rat exterminator, they move to end the infestation.Del Toro's screen writing experience is key to this book. You see and feel exactly what he wants you to --- slowly inching up the tension, keeping you in suspense wondering if the noise you heard in the hall is really just the floorboards creaking or something unholy making its way to you. His take on the vampire follows some of the old traditions but he adds enough to make it feel fresh and exciting. If you prefer a vampire story that holds true to the Dracula mythology than this book may not hold your interest but it's worth the read to experience his take on the vampire mystique.The first 50 or so pages of the book are intriguing. He holds back a lot, playing only a few cards and slowly building the story. While he does keep the pages turning, the story slows a bit in the middle and feels like too much of a re-telling of each new vampire being born. He quickens the pace at the end and leaves readers creeped out and anxiously waiting the next installment and probably sleeping with the lights on.As a side note, I loaned this book to two people who both told me it qualifies for read only in daytime status --- least they worry someone come bite them in the night.
    • 4/5
      Honestly, I don`t understand some people`s arguments against this book. Is it from the most original idea ever? Of course not. Does it have four dimensional detailed to the last minor part of their souls. Hell, no. But let me remind everybody that Stephen King`s best books were born from an old, who-knows-how-many-times-used idea after King has written them WELL. And this is a well written book as well. Good characters, fast paced and interesting storyline, what else do you need? Well, a better hungarian editor would have been nice...
    • 1/5
      A plane lands in NYC from Germany, then promptly shuts down. All the people on board are dead but 4. The CDC is brought in, thinkiing they were killed by some sort of a virus. Then they all turn into vampires and try to eat NYC.Overly violent, with plot elements (such as the Eclipse) that never come to conclusion. I read this because it was "highly recommended," but only my inistence on getting through every book I start caused me to read it to conclusion. I'll not be looking for Book Two.
    • 5/5
      I sat down to start reading The Strain 5 ½ hours ago, and just now turned the last page. This is one of those books I literally could not put down until the bitter end. Quite the feat for a book I requested an ARC of out of mere curiosity.In The Strain, Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan have created a gripping, dread-filled, modern day horror story, masterfully weaving science and mythology into something terrifyingly believable. These are not the brooding vampires of pop culture, or the sexy yet dangerous heroes of romance novels. These vampires are something else entirely, filled with a malevolence that gets a reader’s adrenaline flowing and keeps the pages turning, looking for a safe place to turn off the light and get some sleep.This first novel of a trilogy pits Drs. Ephraim Goodweather and Nora Martinez from the CDC against a possible disease outbreak when a transatlantic flight makes a safe landing at JFK Airport, then completely shuts down on the runway. From there, events and mounting bizarre evidence spiral out of control and they find themselves fighting to save a city that doesn’t know it’s under attack.Allied with an elderly pawnbroker who is more than what he seems, will they be able to put a stop to the rapid spread of vampirism in the city?I, for one, will be eagerly awaiting the next installment.
    • 4/5
      I found The Strain a fun, page-turning vampire thriller. It was appropriately creepy and gave me a few chills along the way. Is it over the top, well yes, but in an entertaining “Vampires are taking over New York City” kind of way. This is a book that grabs your attention right away and delivers a pretty good story of good versus evil.Of course these are far from the popular vampires of today’s romance fiction, the strain are evil, nasty, terrifying creatures that need to be put down in as many bloodthirsty ways as possible. I thought it was obvious that at least one of these authors is used to working in visual entertainment as the gore descriptions were detailed and vivid.The authors put a new spin on the old staple and delivered a story that was fresh and different yet still incorporated many of the traditional aspects. Do I recommend this book. Yes, to lovers of horror stories. Will I continue on with this series? Well, I won’t rush to the next book, but when I am ready for a good vampire tale, I can certainly see picking up the next one.
    • 3/5
      I really had higher expectations for this. I read a review that stated this story started off strong and lost steam along the way-I agree. I did enjoy the zombie twist on vampires though.
    • 4/5
      The beginning grabbed me,and the authors skills of blending the lore of vampires with realism grabs your interest throughout e story. My only complaint is that some of the scenes seem hurried, such as the trilogy could have gone further but they didn't want it to. Not really sure since I haven't read books 2 and 3 yet, but that's how it felt to me.
    • 5/5
      WOW. I am not normally a fan of the vampire fiction genre, but I was hooked from the start. It is exciting and intelligent. There is a strong storyline with multiple layers. I like that it is more of a virus that a monster tale. I can't wait to finish the trilogy.
    • 5/5
      Now after reading that description, you know that I just had to have it! As I've stated quite a few times am a HUGE vampire fan. I've read so many vampire books that it's not even funny. But getting back to this book - these vampires are not in the very least romantic - they are pure evil!I was hooked right from the get go with what was happening to the plane when it landed at the airport. Everything black and everyone appears to be dead - for the most part - save 4 survivors. But these so called survivors also have become infected. This is where it really started to get interesting. Because when I think of vampire, I think razor sharp teeth. But these vampires are different. I don't know whether I really want to tell you what they have instead of that, but I'm going to keep my mouth shut, because they are nothing - nothing like what we've come to know as the modern vampire. These creatures are ancient and behave way beyond our comprehension. Yes, they have been in our world forever, but not in the way we've come to know them!That is really what made this book so exciting. So much action and you never knew what was going to happen next. Just in my first sitting - I read 100 pages in less than an hour!Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan certainly want you to forget about what we've learned about vampire myths because they have brought them into a whole new dimension! They other characters in the book, Eph Goodweather, Nora and Setrakian, who was there years ago and came face-to-face with the "Master". The characters evolved over the book. Eph and Nora were the scientists and tried to find a scientific reason for the outbreak, but when they were approached by Setrakian - things changed and they really had to bcome openminded as to what was going on around them.This is the first book in the series and I'm really looking forward to finding out what is going to happen next! I just can't wait! As The Strain isn't offically released until June of this year, I highly recommend that you get yourselves a copy of it!!!
    • 5/5
      I watched the first season of The Strain sometime in 2015 and really enjoyed it. I feel the book adds to the series with some better characterisation for the protagonist though a little less for some of the supporting cast. In general a decent entry into the vampire canon where I am always happy to see someone build a coherent world with Vampires!
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book. Honestly I can't tell you how I came about reading this and I didn't even bother to read the back cover when I got it. So the first chunk of the book I kept thinking that it was some kind of Twilight Zone episode but I kept me interested the whole way through. They went into ALOT of detail on the airplane mechanics, the medical side of the change from human to vampire and even the behavior of city rats. They gave me enough detail to understand what was going on but not so much as to bore me with all the terminology and over the top details. They gave a good back story and a good lead out into the next book. If your a fan of vampire books and want something not in the usual realm of sparkles and charm, this is the book. It gets down to the nitty gritty animalistic side that vampires, if real I believe they, would have.
    • 5/5
      As a fan of the recent movies Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy and Hellboy 2, I had high expectations for Guillermo del Toro's new novel co-authored by Chuck Hogan, and The Strain met and exceeded all of them. Opening with a flashback of a fable told to a young boy and then jumping to the present with the chilling landing of a mysterious plane at JFK airport, suspense is expertly layered into the heart of the story. What follows is a dark and sinister reworking of a classic vampire story true to the colorful and multi-layered storytelling style seen in del Toro's movies. With elements of zombie lore and bioterrorism, The Strain can best be described as Bram Stoker meets Resident Evil. The characters in the book are expertly drawn with a good mix of strengths and flaws. The action is intense and creepy - not a book to read before bedtime for both the nightmares it could cause and the inability to put it down! As the first book in a new trilogy, it tells a succinct story but the ending is definitely more of a pause than a stop since readers will be left eager for the next installment.
    • 4/5
      With all the hype lately for the Stephanie Meyer books and those movie adaptations, it's heartening to see someone return to the good old fashioned blood-curdling, mind-numbing vampires of old. When I picked up 'The Strain', I was initially concerned, finding myself asking: "Why... are they doing this?" Based on the back cover blurbs, The Strain was geared up to be a mash-up/homage of Salem's Lot and I Am Legend. And I immediately thought - Why? Why do we need this, since those two are basic classics in the genre to begin with? And secondly - do we need this to be a three-part series (concluding in 2011)? But I read it anyway, intrigued by the press, the reviews and the concept, and - if for nothing else I'd get a good Halloween read in, and have a chance to clear my mind of all the young-adult vampires flying around out there. I'm glad to say it was mostly worth it: the setup is Salem's Lot, except instead of King's typical small town horror, del Toro and Hogan have elevated the stakes, centering on New York City (where we'll end up having the implications of I Am Legend in terms of a more massive scale infestation of vampires). All this is great, well-written and suspenseful. And very disturbing. There are a few new twists on the vampires, the virus at their core, and their powers and limitations that make this all fun. And I am looking forward to the next two novels. But I do have some problems. 1) Why name the protagonist 'Abraham'? Come on. We get it already. He's Van Helsing, exactly, down to his East European background, his accent, his beliefs, everything. It was enough to have him as the wise man who has had run-ins with the vampires and will counsel the other heroes on how to kill these things. There's going to be enough comparisons and criticisms of this work based on its borrowing from other classic that you don't need to encourage it. 2) I know Dan Simmons even gave a nice blurb on the back cover, but with all due respect, his CARRION COMFORT was a much more original, epic vampire novel, one that I'd argue is the best vampire novel ever written - about a group of psychic vampires who use humans as cattle - and pawns in their own power struggles. This is a concept The Strain also 'borrows'/introduces late in the novel as we realize The Master has broken the vampire rules, and that the other vamp lords are pissed. So again, it's not original, and Simmons' work is a tremendous classic, and one that actually ends in one novel, albeit a long one that could have been likewise broken up into three if he were greedy. 3) I agree with some of the other reviewers in that the biological/supernatural 'rules' these vampires follow (reflections in mirrors, sleeping in dirt, crossing running water) need to be fleshed out better - and I hope that gets addressed in the next novels. But right now it seems the authors are trying to have it both ways. 4) Maybe I missed something, but if the point was to get the Master into the new world so he could begin the plague to spread the virus and control everything, and if crossing water is a real problem - why choose New York, which is an island? Again, maybe I missed it, but it seems, as Abraham hopes - we've got a way to contain this virus already. Thank God the Master didn't land in Phoenix or LA or something where there would be no stopping the spread... So again, The Strain was a fun read, and I'm glad to see the monstrous vampires and their viral implications returning to the spotlight, but it just doesn't feel that original to me, serving more as a current diversion, and a reminder that I should go back and reread the other classics from which it borrows its material: Carrion Comfort, Salem's Lot and I am Legend (and of course, Dracula).
    • 3/5
      This book is all kinds of dumb, but when it works, it really works. Some of the early scene-setting moments are fantastic, and the "getting the team together" moments crackle. The action feels so by-the-books, though, and the prose is...it's not bad, but it's sometimes too punchy.
    • 1/5
      I don't know what I was expecting, but this book was a poorly written "cookbook" that followed a recipe for thriller pulp fiction. There was nothing new or even mildly interesting here.In contrast, Justin Cronin's [The Passage] at least created an interesting future world, with well developed characters and a less predictable plot. I will be reading that sequel. I will try to forget all about [The Strain.] It won't be hard.
    • 3/5
      This was a very cool concept. Vampire as virus. I loved too how sweetly the authors married the elements of a zombie apocalypse with the story of a city being overrun by vampires. Zombies are undead beings. Vampires are undead beings too. Why not then treat them as such? This book does just that. There are no sparkling or sexy vamps to be found here. Only shambling, dirty, vacant things driven by an unceasing hunger. This is the kind of book I can enjoy despite its flaws.

      ...and flaws there were...

      Some of the characters were unbelievably, unforgivably stupid. I'm talking Darwin Award dense. I could see the deaths coming and plans crumbling from a mile away. Predictable. Annoying. Though not enough of a turn-off to keep me from reading. This was quite the page turner.
    • 3/5
      I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It told an interesting story and was still a fast read. I've read that some don't like the changes to the vampire myth that Del Toro and Hogan made but I thought they worked.

      My only gripe is there is a scene near the end that is a little too much like a scene in Blade 2 (also done by Del Toro). But overall very enjoyable, and I look forward to the next ones.
    • 5/5
      Reviewed from an Advanced Readers EditionBrilliantly written from beginning to end. Del Toro and Hogan did an exceptional job in creating a story that brings the world of vampires to life. The first part of a trilogy, "The Strain" captivates your imagination from beginning to end. The characters are believable, and the story well paced. It is easily one of the scariest books I have read in a long time. At times, I had to put the book down and take a breather. I can't wait for the sequel. I highly recommend this book. I think it will become a classic.