Midnight Mass

First let me give my opinion as to why this book is not rated "4 stars" or better. I think that most people will be turned off by the characters and the plot development...let me explain. Vampires(in this novel) are much different than vampires in most modern novels...they feel different, they act different, they even look different than what we would normally picture them to be like. The plot follows a few main characters but does jump around quite a bit so it is kind of hard to understand what is going on if you are NOT paying too much attention. However, I pay attention, and I love the way the vampires are designed but I am guessing that my assumption is correct as to why most people rated this poorly! Anyways....to the Review! Midnight Mass: This book is just excellent! I have never really pictured vampires as the author describes them. I normally envision regal characters dining on flesh to survive, not killing but adding anpther to the immortal flock. Well, Wilson(the author) has a different-and more brutal- story to tell. In Wilson's world(Earth a few years from now-ruled by vampires) the vampires are the Kings of the planet. But Vampires can only travel at night, so you may be thinking-why don't the people just hide at night and go out in the day...- well Wilson has the answer to that question, my dear friend. The Vampires employ groups of Cowboys(free humans who do the Vampire's bidding) to round up people in the afternoon to bring back to their lairs at the setting sun. The World is perched on the eve of destruction with no hopes for survival, unless you count a nun who prostituted herself after the fall of the church for survival; a Drunken, excommunicated Priest that has fallen out of grace, and a Rabbi who wears a cross for protection(the irony).

Vampires have taken over Europe, Asia, and the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Wherever they go, they are joined by "cowboys"--the scum of humanity, who sell out their fellow men in order to escape death. In New Jersey, a revolution is beginning. Father Joe is a dedicated Catholic priest, with a faith as hard and strong as his fist; Zev is a rabbi, questioning his faith but determined to stop the menace; Carole, a nun, ashamed of the killer she has become but unable to stop until the vampires and their "cowboys" are destroyed; and Lacey, Father Joe's feisty, quick-thinking, hard-headed niece. Together, they retake St. Anthony's Church. But that is not the end. Because soon, Father Joe is attacked and bitten, left for dead. But he does not die...he becomes something more than human, less than vampire. He has become humanity's last hope against the undead armies... F. Paul Wilson is, at his core, a horror writer ("The Keep" is one of the greatest horror novels of all time; if you haven't read it, do so now). Though he has made several brief detours along the way (he's written everything from sci-fi to medical thrillers, not to mention the unique "Repairman Jack" series), horror is where he truly excels. Is "Midnight Mass" unique? No, it's not supposed to be. Is it believable? Of course not--it's a vampire novel. Is it scary enough to keep you up all night with the lights on? You betcha.

I have enjoyed Anne Rice's vampiric, pained aesthetes and Tanya Huff's funny, noble vampires as much as the next reader...but loving the boogeyman or laughing with him gets old after a while. I still love Tanya Huff; don't get me wrong...though I think I have outgrown Rice. I want to be horrified by my horror these days. In this horror show of a world we've been dropped in to, it's...comforting to dwell for a time in a world worse off than our own. I was overjoyed that Wilson (obviously one of my favortie writers if you've seen my other reviews) decided to make vampires scary again. I believe he has succeeded admirably in this page-turning thriller. Vampires have taken over Europe and are now they are sweeping across America...or they're trying to. Life as we know it has ended on the east coast. Roving bands of mortal henchemen calling themselves "Cowboys" hunt during the day for their undead masters. Wilson's vampires are eerie and scary (monsters with enough humanity to magnify their nastiness). Those few who fight both Cowboys and vampires are a great set of characters themselves: Father Cahill and his tough-as-nails niece Lacey. Rabbi Zev and Sister Carole...a seriously scary nun (who used to teach science).The Booklist review above was right to compare this to 28 Days Later. There is a definite similarity. Really the best new take on vampires since...well...The Keep by Frances Paul himself! Why isn't this man on the top of the bestsellers lists? You'll wonder too if you give this or Sims or The Select a try.

Kudos to F. Paul Wilson for saving the vampire genre. Vampires are my favorite monsters and it's great to see a writer bring back these predatory beasts to their true form. Gone are the sissified vampires bemoaning the meaning of it all while deciding what lacy frock to wear. In its place are demonic creatures bent on taking over the world and using humans as food. Smart, coordinated and purely evil, these vampires unleash an apocalypse on an unprepared world. A great cast of characters is at the heart of this novel. Everyday people forced to overcome their own grief and band together to fight legions of vampires and the humans that serve them. There is sufficient back story on each character to make you identify with these people. By the end of the book you'll have gone through the same roller coaster of emotion the characters have. Great use of dialogue and location as well. This is a novel that ranks up there with Salem's Lot, I am Legend and They Thirst. It's scary, heart breaking and action packed. A classic tale about loss, faith and survival in a post-apocalyptic world. Thank you, Dr. Wilson, for resurrecting the true vampires. Here's hoping that there's a sequel in the future.

There were vampires living in Eastern Europe that nobody knew about and when the Iron Curtain fell, a power vacuum developed. The vampires were quick to feed on the vacuous world leaders turning political, industry, and religious figures into vampires. Next they shut down electricity and telephone service leaving humans isolated and fearful. Finally they recruited humans to act as their watchers in the daylight hours, promising to turn them into vampires after loyal servicing of ten years.They overran Western Europe, Asia and Africa and now have turned their attention to the eastern seaboard of the United States. They used the same tactics they did in the old world and it looked like they were winning until a resistance was started by father Joe. He and the members of his parish join forces to throw the vampires out of the church making it a place of refuge from the creatures of the night. He, a commando nun and his lesbian niece form a plan that if it succeeds will give hope to the rest of humanity that vampires can be eradicated from the earth.This is not in any sense a Repairman Jack novel but in tone and substance it will remind reader of THE KEEP. This is a true horror novel because the vampires are so evil with no redeeming equalities see human beings as a food supply for their blood hunger. F. Paul Wilson creates a new world order with vampires as the leaders, the human collaborators tantamount to Quislings with other humans on the bottom of the food chain. MIDNIGHT MASS is horror at its very best.Harriet Klausner