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CSFF Blog Tour: Haunt of Jackals Review
Sypnosis:
A decade earlier, Jerusalem's Undead escaped their tombs in the
Field of Blood. One of their group was missing, and he will return with
a vengeance, fighting his fellow Collectors for control of a vile
book--a blueprint that exploits "six things, no, seven, that the Lord
hates," as a way of dragging down mankind.
As the Collectors vie for dominance, Gina Lazarescu finds herself
fleeing through the mountains. She is alone and wounded, but more
determined than ever to find and protect the children in her care. She
does not know that Cal Nichols still has life-shaking secrets yet to
share. She knows only that she is headed for another confrontation with
the Collectors, one that will lead from Romanian castles to the Pacific
Northwest and eventually to the Haunt of Jackals, birthplace of Judas
Iscariot in Israel's arid wastelands.
Review:
"Haunt of Jackals" suits this month perfectly with it's central theme of demonic vampires. Vampires, as of late, have really blossomed within the literary market, all thanks to Twilight. Twilight's vampires though are toned down and are in many ways, not exactly the monstrous vampires which were originally depicted within Bram Stoker's novels. With the Christian market slowly accepting vampire books, we're faced with the best of the vampire stories. Eric Wilson's story was tightly plotted and has some very interesting theories on how the vampires were originally created. And best of all, not one vampire sparkled all throughout the novel. Even better, the words "bliss" and "chagrin" were not found on any page.
I'm a huge appreciator of vampire lore, something many professing Christians would never admit. Hearing of this series filled me with both dread and glee. To my surprise though, Eric Wilson writes these books with great finesse and shows a great appreciation for vampires. His series is not really the first proper Christian Vampire Series. Sue Dent's "Never Ceese" takes the honor of being the first with a redemptive vampirer. Eric Wilson's series involves vampires who are demonic incarnates and this was refreshing for me, after all the romantic vampire stories which seem to receive the most press as of recently. The story also has a great spiritual message which is interwoven expertly in the plot.
An even greater strength of this novel was the existence of strong female characters. Many tend to believe Christians undermine the potential strength of a woman and largely place them within subservient roles within novels. This myth may apply to a few books, but most Christian books feature some of the strongest, most assertive women within contemporary novels. Any readers can attest to this if they read this series in particular. Every girl is naturally developed and are not mere imitations of super females. But are instead true human characters whose strength is derived by faith and not their biological makeup. All the characters, both female and male are fairly treated and are developed very well.
One thing which bugged me during the novel though was the occasional moment of choppy writing. There were a few times where the author glossed over details and merely summarized over sections in order to move the plot further. Some may not notice this minor fault. I noticed because I'm a scrupulous reader. But these moments were enough to cause me to feel detached from the plot at these parts. Luckily these parts are smoothed over eventually and really are far and few. In all, this novel makes me very excited for the next installment and has helped me to gain more confidence in the future releases within the Christian market.
Links of other Tour Participants
http://www.http://
http://quiverfullfamily.
http://fantastyfreak.
http://www.
http://pagesofdiscovery.
http://www.kcreviews.
http://www.
http://csffblogtour.com/
http://word-up-studies.
http://www.
http://scriptoriusrex.
http://projectinga.
http://
http://bethgoddard.
http://
http://fantasythyme.
http://jessebecky.
http://crisjesse.
http://www.molcotw.
http://carolkeen.
http://momofkings.
http://
http://mirathon.
http://insellyr.
http://www.leastread.
http://www.jamessomers.
http://specfaith.
http://www.
http://www.epictales.
http://christiansf.
http://frederation.
http://christian-
http://www.novelteen.
http://kmwilsher.
1 comment:
Thanks for the great and honest review of "Haunt of Jackals." You seem to be one of the few who enjoyed it, so it means a lot.
Unfortunately, sales have been lackluster, and as a result, this will be my last edgier series in the CBA market. Their interest seems to run toward Amish fiction, at this point. Ah, well.
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