Field of Blood by Eric Wilson

Reviewed by Darcie Gudger

"Field of Blood bursts onto the scene shattering the clichés brought to us by Hollywood."

Vampires. So cliché. I mean, when I see someone dressed like Dracula I get the urge to count. One! Ah-ah-ah! Two! Ah-ah-ah.

And we all know Christianity and vampire lore don’t mix.

Or…

Field of Blood bursts onto the scene shattering the clichés brought to us by Hollywood. Wilson digs deep into the history and mystery of fang-toothed fables.

In this book, Wilson mixes vampire lore with Biblical history. The book opens with the suicide of Judas Iscariot after betraying Jesus Christ. Judas’ blood seeps through cracks in the parched ground, uniting the souls of the Jerusalem Undead with physical hosts.

Vampires function as soul collectors. Defeated by the Nazarene, the Master Collector vows to create his own Facebook version of hell so he’s not alone.

Collectors require fresh human blood for sustenance, but their bites don’t transform prey into new vampires. Through the puncture wound, a seed is planted. That seed germinates into a choking thorny vine fertilized by the Power of Choice of its host. Eventually the vine ripens, calling the collectors to dinner, feeding on the blood and soul of the person until a deflated bag of skin and bone remains.

The Collectors aren’t the only immortals roaming the earth. During Old Testament times, thirty-eight individuals were marked by God as protectors of the human race. These Nistarim hunt Collectors. Collectors hunt Nistarim. Each out to destroy the other.

In the midst of this ancient conflict is a young Romanian girl with a mysterious past and really weird mother. Gina Lazarescu tolerates her mother’s strange rituals and spends her time thinking about the sweetness of her first kiss. Gina has no idea the Collectors are seeking her out. She’s not even aware they exist!

A sudden flight to America incited by a man familiar with her mother raises alarm. Who is Gina Lazarescu?

Her mother remains tight-lipped, forcing Gina, who senses she’s in danger, to figure out who the enemy is and how to defeat them.

Wilson’s Field of Blood refuses to be crammed into any existing genre. It’s folklore, fiction, satire, historical, romantic, horrific, suspenseful soaked in the reality of the Cross of Christ. My biggest frustration with the book is that the next one isn’t due out until next summer of 2009!

Eric Wilson once again sucked me into (no pun intended… okay, intended) this fascinating world with a new spin on tired stereotypes. Historical fact and legend are woven so tight, readers will buy into the plausibility of the plot.

I was intrigued by the development of the Collector characters who emerge into the twenty-first century from the time of Christ. Wilson plays with the “gap” in some guffaw-evoking scenes.

If you’re expecting creatures who shrivel in the sun-light, look into a mirror unreflected, sleep in coffins or turn into bats you’re better off sticking with Buffy and other popular vampire tales.

If you’re up for something totally outside the realm of your reading experience and love history/mythology/suspense/comedy/mystery/romance/satire/horror and the Bible, this book will capture you and entwine you in a story world you never knew existed.

Darcie Gudger is a freelance writer currently working on a young adult novel while trying to solve all the mysteries of motherhood with her adopted son, Kyle. In her spare time, she coaches the 2A Colorado State Champion Sheridan High School colorguard, judged equipment for the Rocky Mountain Colorguard Association and sings for the Bear Valley church choir and worship team. An adventure-seeker who lives and writes in the shadow of the Rocky mountains, Darcie loves hiking, camping, cycling, photography and keeping her husband guessing. Visit Darcie online at her blog, Joy in the Litterbox.