Books like Threshold

I tried to stick this one out, but I finally cried "Uncle" at page 106. The story seemed intriguing (Fossils? Goths? Beowulf? Do tell!) and the musicality of the language and the strong imagery provided enough of an incentive to bear with it, to a point.So what broke me?The characters, man. There's only so much self-pity you can swim in till you drown. In Chance's case, it's arguably somewhat justified, but it doesn't necessarily make for compelling reading. And Dancy wasn't so bad, but seriously, Deacon? Really, Sadie? And you too, Elise! I know the world is a vampire, but maybe eat a little more iron and buck up.Also, while I thought the prose was strong, in the end I couldn't deal with the author's idiosyncratic predilection for making word stew: mushing two words together to make a new word (i.e. bruisedark). This wasn't occasional; it was incessant. The first few times it was interesting; after that it was distracting and irritating. I realize the point was probably to create a stream-of-consciousness effect, but the effect it had on me was to keep pulling me out of the story.Also, the pacing: I eat faster than this plot advances. And I'm always the last one at the table. By a lot. This might have been easier to bear with, barring the above conditions, and I bore with it for awhile because it seemed like the payoff might be worth it.And maybe it is. But, in light of the above, I wasn't up to finding out.