- Hardcover: 332 pages
- Publisher: St Martin's Press (27 May 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0765307057
- ISBN-13: 978-0765307057
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,080,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Vampires have always lived in Eastern Europe. But with the fall of the Soviet Union, they began to spread across the continent, then the world, turning whole populations into vampires-or human cattle. Having overrun India, the far East, and the great cities of North and South America, the forces of Night are now spreading into the countryside to consolidate their conquest. In a town on the New Jersey shore, the vampires have just arrived, along with their human henchmen, the cowboys, who round up human cattle for the over- lords in return for the promise of eternal life-later. For the vampires wish only a few of their own kind to rule, and feed. The rest of humanity are to be helpless herds, the source of the blood of life. Falsely accused of abuse, Father Dan is drunk in a basement waiting for the end. His superior has betrayed the local Catholic congregation and become a vampire. Sister Carolyn has become a formidable killer of cowboys and vampires. Dan's niece, escaped from the conquest of New York, has made her way south to find him. Brought together by Rabbi Zev Wolpin, who is shaken by the vampires' fear of the cross and holy water, they plan their resistance. Against all odds, they discover that there just might be a way for humanity to really fight back. But first they will have to kill the vampire king of New York.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
A frustrating book, this. It jumps straight into the action, it has some likeable characters, its pace is breathless and, occasionally, thrilling, and I gobbled it up in a few short reading sessions. So F Paul Wilson was doing something right. Unfortunately, for my taste, he was doing a helluva lot wrong too. The whole thing felt like a very lightweight read. It is a relatively short book - quite feasibly the start of a series or trilogy or whatever - which cries out to have been twice or thrice as long. In the hands of a Stephen King, this story would have been an epic. It would have taken its time to build up, to create its vision of a post-apocalyptic world overrun by vampires, to do more than merely sketch out its characters. And, above all, it would have been scary. Terrifying, even. But so many elements of Midnight Mass are really half-baked. In spite of some horrific violence in the book, I was left feeling completely short-changed when it came to the evil characters. The vampires themselves were largely toothless. Maybe that is a consequence of over-familiarity or even overkill - if vampires are as numerous as portrayed in the book, they lose a lot of the mystery, the feeling of the unknown, the uniqueness that marks out Bram Stoker's Dracula as - still - the finest example of the genre that I know. Having said that, Richard Matheson was able to create an incredibly oppressive and horrifying tale in I Am Legend even though that modern classic has a similar premise to Midnight Mass and is even shorter in length. But, again, Matheson's vision seemed very believable. Whereas Wilson's premise that the vampires easily rampaged through largely non-Christian areas of the world like China and India and the Middle East since those populations wouldn't have access to enough crucifixes or knowledge of vampire lore is ridiculous. As is the idea that, out of a world population of more than 6 billion, only a motley crew of decent, smalltown East Coasters have the wherewithal, the God-fearing resolve and heroism to properly resist the vampiric hordes.
F Paul Wilson is obviously a populist writer who, perhaps, has more in common with Dean Koontz than King. But, like Koontz, he seems overly concerned about thrills and spills and pace to particularly worry about creating interesting, multi-layered characters. There are too many stock types in this novel. And, in the case of the cowboys, they all seem to be denim-clad, Heavy Metal-loving, sexually voracious, murderous buffoons. That aspect of the novel really grates. And having Slipknot's Iowa, for instance, as the soundtrack to their violence is neither cutting-edge nor anything other than a monumental cliche!
And, really, the writing itself is really perfunctory. With nothing distinctive about it at all. So, the more I think of it, the more exasperated I become at the many inadequacies of this really insignificant contribution to the vampire genre. Hell, even the Twilight and Tru Blood series contain more invention and interest and gravitas than the barely acceptable quasi-screenplay that is Midnight Mass.
F Paul Wilson is obviously a populist writer who, perhaps, has more in common with Dean Koontz than King. But, like Koontz, he seems overly concerned about thrills and spills and pace to particularly worry about creating interesting, multi-layered characters. There are too many stock types in this novel. And, in the case of the cowboys, they all seem to be denim-clad, Heavy Metal-loving, sexually voracious, murderous buffoons. That aspect of the novel really grates. And having Slipknot's Iowa, for instance, as the soundtrack to their violence is neither cutting-edge nor anything other than a monumental cliche!
And, really, the writing itself is really perfunctory. With nothing distinctive about it at all. So, the more I think of it, the more exasperated I become at the many inadequacies of this really insignificant contribution to the vampire genre. Hell, even the Twilight and Tru Blood series contain more invention and interest and gravitas than the barely acceptable quasi-screenplay that is Midnight Mass.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is an interesting spin on traditional vampire tales. It seems that vampires have come out of their shells and come into power. They are literally taking over the world. With Eastern and Western Europe under their control, and India and the Far East under their domination, vampires are now making inroads in the good old United Stated of America.
These vampires are aided by collaborators known as cowboys, humans who have been promised immortality if they do the vampires' dirty work for them. Cowboys round-up humans, as if they were cattle, for their masters to feed upon, and these hungry hordes of vampires seem unstoppable, as major cities in the United States succumb to their might.
When vampires arrive in a small sea side town in New Jersey, the going gets rough, as they meet resistance from an unusual group of humans: a nun with a secret mission, a disgraced priest with a bit of a drinking problem, his gay niece, and a rabbi. Together, they each do their bit to thwart the advancing horde of vampires. What happens to each one along the way makes for a page turning vampire tale.
This is definitely a book worth reading, if one enjoys vampire stories. Though very traditional in terms of vampire lore, there are enough twists to make it seem fresh and interesting. Though not as good as the author's other vampire tale, "The Keep", which is a masterpiece, this is a good enough yarn to keep the reader turning the pages until the very end. It will not disappoint.
These vampires are aided by collaborators known as cowboys, humans who have been promised immortality if they do the vampires' dirty work for them. Cowboys round-up humans, as if they were cattle, for their masters to feed upon, and these hungry hordes of vampires seem unstoppable, as major cities in the United States succumb to their might.
When vampires arrive in a small sea side town in New Jersey, the going gets rough, as they meet resistance from an unusual group of humans: a nun with a secret mission, a disgraced priest with a bit of a drinking problem, his gay niece, and a rabbi. Together, they each do their bit to thwart the advancing horde of vampires. What happens to each one along the way makes for a page turning vampire tale.
This is definitely a book worth reading, if one enjoys vampire stories. Though very traditional in terms of vampire lore, there are enough twists to make it seem fresh and interesting. Though not as good as the author's other vampire tale, "The Keep", which is a masterpiece, this is a good enough yarn to keep the reader turning the pages until the very end. It will not disappoint.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
First let me start by suggesting that something was missing - Jack. I know, but if it works for Clive Cussler it would have worked brilliantly here. Clive Cussler fans will know what I mean, he adds himself in a page, I was not expecting to see FPW, but I was half expecting to see Jack or at least his name mentioned as the book was partly set in New york. But that is a minor thing.
FPW sticks to vampire lore very well, garlic, steaks (not the red meat type!), crosses and daylight etc etc. But he introduces a brilliantly novel way of killing many of them in one go. I am not spoiling it.
There is a great story, it was easy to follow, of revenge in the book and a twist, also quite sad and touching in places. He doesn't pull many punches in how brutal the vampires and their "cowboy" slaves are, some is quite hard hitting.
There is scope for a follow up, so that is a hint there Mr Wilson, a sequel please. Though with a rank of 550,000 in Amazon's UK book sales that may not happen, that is a shame... Mind you that is a lot better ranking than my mums book, Cats' Tails from Amazonia (OK - I know, sneaky!!).
I highly recommend this book to any vampire lover or any FPW fan. As good as any book he has written. Mr Wilson, you have a wonderful talent, thank you for sharing it with us.
FPW sticks to vampire lore very well, garlic, steaks (not the red meat type!), crosses and daylight etc etc. But he introduces a brilliantly novel way of killing many of them in one go. I am not spoiling it.
There is a great story, it was easy to follow, of revenge in the book and a twist, also quite sad and touching in places. He doesn't pull many punches in how brutal the vampires and their "cowboy" slaves are, some is quite hard hitting.
There is scope for a follow up, so that is a hint there Mr Wilson, a sequel please. Though with a rank of 550,000 in Amazon's UK book sales that may not happen, that is a shame... Mind you that is a lot better ranking than my mums book, Cats' Tails from Amazonia (OK - I know, sneaky!!).
I highly recommend this book to any vampire lover or any FPW fan. As good as any book he has written. Mr Wilson, you have a wonderful talent, thank you for sharing it with us.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
