Vigil

i had never heard of robert masello and was reluctant to read it because i expected a stephen king like horror story with loads of blood, gore, splatter and other nasty details. i had promised myself that i would give the book to the goodwill immediately if it started to gross me out. instead i found a well written book with interesting characters. am not quite sure what character development is supposed to mean. why does a character have to change over the course of a book? isn't it enough if the character is well described and fleshed out and has believable emotions and actions? these characters had all that. it's one of those books that are really hard to put down and leave you disappointed when it's over because you want more. i will certainly look for more books by this author.

I'd like to give this book a 4.5 rather than a 5. The author obviously is a talented writer. With this book, though, he may not be reaching high enough - he needs to understand that readers of this genre are a cut above the average best-seller potboiler readers. To be able to follow theology, archaeology, and paleontology you have to have some brains. A few gaps should have been filled in, but I really enjoyed this book. Thank goodness it didn't live up to the jacket's promise of being as scary as The Excorcist and The Omen (those books scare the living daylights out of me and I'm not looking for that). Instead it was a fun read and kept me happily entertained from beginning to end for several hours on a few summer evenings.

Vigil is a book that weaves a spell all its own, and I was thoroughly enthralled. It did remind me of books by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, but, frankly, I thought the writing was much better. As for the story, it was -- at last! -- an engaging supernatural tale that traded in ideas and character, not special effects and over-the-top gore. It's for grown-up readers, who still enjoy some thrills and chills!

Robert Masello has long written excellent yet understated novels of suspense and horror, such as "The Spirit Wood," "Black Horizon," and "Private Demons," in which the world of the supernatural slowly invades the world of the everyday. I'm glad to say that Masello has outdone himself this time with "Vigil." He begins with a discovery of a mysterious fossil that is years older than it should be, and a fragmented ancient parchment that warns of an evil creature. As the plot unfolds, it becomes clearer that something dangerous is lurking in the world, and the reader races forward anxiously to find out what will happen next. But what makes "Vigil" work isn't just the lurking evil; it's also that his characters all have real lives that don't just get put on hold when the ancient evil is released. A sense of realism pervades the novel; if such an evil did come back to threaten the world, one feels that the story would unfold exactly as it does here. Masello carries his novel all the way to the end. The best stories end with what I like to call an inevitable surprise, an ending that surprises the reader but in retrospect makes logical sense from what has happened before. "Vigil" ends in just this way, a perfectly satisfactory resolution that also calls for a sequel -- and, I hope, soon. If you are a fan of good horror or just excellent characterization, read this book.

Vigil is a fast-moving, brilliantly plotted adventure that's fascinating from first page to last. The characters--from the intriguing Arius to the well-drawn hero Carter Cox--are fully drawn and realized. Author Robert Masello has a profound grasp of his unusually riveting material, and the depth of his knowledge adds immeasurably to the vividness of his story. Despite the supernatural elements, the story is completely believable. Like Dan Brown, Masello has transcended his genre and written an exciting, action-filled story that should have a huge readership. I found myself finishing the book at 3 am, under the covers with a flashlight. You really can't put this one down. A wonderful book that you definitely shouldn't miss!