Haunt Of Jackals by Eric Wilson — Wow!
This week the CSFF Blog Tour is covering the Haunt of Jackals by NY Times Bestseller Eric Wilson.
Being extremely busy (working my day job, writing a new novel, homeschooling, preparing for a performance of our band Wren Song, setting up a recoding studio, etc.) I haven’t had time to purchase or read this book, so I can only give an overview of the premise and the writing in the first chapter.
Please check out the other members of the tour listed at the bottom of this post for fuller reviews.
In particular, I’ll recommend Jason Joyner’s review over at his “Spoiled For The Ordinary” blog.
Overview of Haunt Of Jackals from Amazon:
When Jesus was resurrected, ancient scripture says many rose from the grave. Today, 36 from this group of undead remain. Known as the Nistarim, they are here to watch over the world.
When Judas hung himself, his blood mysteriously gave rise to another group of undead: the unholy Collectors. Now very much alive, they feed on souls and human blood.
Both groups of immortals still walk among us in an eternal struggle. Now both are after a single target—a boy named Pavel who may possess the key to the Collectors’ unlimited power…or ultimate downfall.
Gina, a woman fleeing for her own life, is determined to protect the boy at all costs. She has survived one battle with the undead already, but has no idea how long she’ll be able to stay a step ahead of them.
The Jerusalem’s Undead Trilogy takes readers on a riveting journey, as imaginative fiction melds with biblical and archaeological history.
And more from Eric Wilson’s website:
1211: Crusaders ship tons of soil from Jerusalem back to Italy, convinced of its holy properties. But something unholy has joined them.
1944: Allied bombs destroy a cemetery only yards from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. A fire rages. A tomb is opened.
In our modern world, Gina Lazarescu is a young woman caught trying to forgive her mother and track down her father. If she fails at either task, she will die.
Thorns will overrun its palaces…The ruins will become a haunt for jackals. —Isaiah 34:13
My Thoughts On The Storyline
From my perspective, the storyline is first rate! Not only does he take one of the mysteries of the Bible and turn it into a novel, but he makes the fate of the future world depend on the actions of the main characters. Can you spell B-R-E-A-K-O-U-T?
His main character is a Gina Lazarescu, a female, which makes sense for the CBA market. In my opinion, there is a tantalizing clue hidden in her last name that concerns her origin.
Lets just say that I am hooked and will be purchasing this trilogy sometime in the future!
The First Chapter:
After reading the first chapter on Amazon, I was a bit shocked at the evil of the character presented. I now know the feel of the novel and must say that it definitely would fall under Biblical Horror, if such a category exists.
So buyer beware … read the first chapter to get a… err… taste of what this novel is like.
It was not very far back in time when a novel like this would not have been published in the CBA. But the doors have apparently swung wide, and so those that enjoy novels like this can now buy them.
The great thing is that there are incredible Christian truths woven into the novel, making it excellent to share with non-Christian friends who are into thrillers.
On his writing style, it was well done and very suspenseful.
The only complaint I had was when a few modernisms crept into the POV character’s thoughts, such as “monochromatic”. For someone from the 1st century or earlier, a word like that probably wouldn’t have occurred to them.
Setting my own novel in the 5th century, I’ve had my own struggles with modernisms slipping in, and so this is easily forgiven. Most readers, knowing the word, won’t even notice.
Recommended Audience:
Do you like suspense? Do you like zombies,vampires, or werewolves? Do you like fiction that finds a mystery in the Bible and has some fun with it? Then this book is for you.
From what I have seen, I would recommend this book for VERY MATURE teens on up.
Preview of the next book: Valley Of Bones:
Book Three: VALLEY OF BONES…in stores April 2010
1911: Rasputin, advisor to the Russian tsars, travels to Jerusalem to unlock hidden relics, both sacred and profane.
2004: With yet another tragedy in her wake, Gina Lazarescu makes a discovery that renews her hope for the future.
Even as Akeldama Collectors amass forces, Gina and Cal search Jerusalem for a secret that will raise up their own holy army—a valley of bones prepared to fight for the souls of mankind.
I was carried away…to a valley filled with bones….They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army of them —Ezekiel 37:1&10
Here are the other tour members:
I hope you do get a chance to fully explore the books. But be patient! I, unfortunately, am like a kindergartner, and want stories to move along at a good clip. Still, as slow as the first book is, it really does set up the action at the beginning of Haunt of Jackals.
Good post!
Good review without actually reading the book!
I haven’t read it either, but judging by the comments generated by the book…the surprise at it being published by the CBA, my curiosity is piqued.
Keanan and Brandon, thanks for visiting. I am surprised that the speed was slow for the first book … but a plot as complex as this can take time to setup.
I agree with Keanan. The first book felt like a textbook. . .
But HAUNT OF JACKALS ended great!
VALLEY OF THE BONES should be fun!
Thanks for the nice comments. You seemed to understand a lot of my purpose in this story, which was encouraging.
Re: the modernisms, I wanted to comment that it’s a Collector (a demon, in actuality) that is the viewpoint there, and so a word such as “monochromatic” might very well be part of their understanding. In the first book, I had a section where we see the original Akeldama Collectors starting to assimilate into culture, including idioms and such, with a concerted effort to fit in. I didn’t revisit that in book two, but it seems to be a bit of an obstacle for those who haven’t read the first book.
Good comments. I do understand about the “textbook” feel of book one, only because I was trying to lay an entire new framework for the vampire mythos against a Christian worldview. I’m sure I could’ve done a much better job, but that’s how the story came out, so it’s too late to change it now, right?
Thanks for the great dialogue, everyone.
Thanks for the mention! Last week was too busy to really visit the other tour folks – I barely got my own posts done. I thought it would be a good idea to do a “reference” post since we were starting in the middle of a series.
Overall I’m impressed with the ambition of the series, even if some writing and plotting aspects don’t hold up. It is an intriguing series, and I will definitely finish the series to see what happens.
Eric,
Thanks for clarifying the modernism … and now that I think about it, it makes sense that a demon would have been exposed to modern words. But maybe writing something like the following would have helped:
On the slower setup of book one … sometimes you just have to do that to write the book correctly. I’m glad your publisher was patient with you. Speculative fiction can be hard to write for CBA because of the need to spend whole chapters on setup.
Thanks for stopping by!
-Robert
Thanks for stopping by my neck of the blogosphere. I read your article about the definition of Christian fiction — Good Stuff. I’m gonna have to go back and read it again a time or two.