Customer Reviews

Past Sins

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We've all heard the adage, don't judge a book by it's cover, and it has never rung more true than in the case of Don Ecker's debut novel Past Sins. It's tagline reads "A a novel of supernatural horror" and the cover art insights images of Transylvanian Counts and the same tired old vampire cliche retold again and again. But don't judge a book by it's cover, tired Counts it thankfully lacks. While there are certainly acts of unspeakable horror depicted in this novel, it doesn't fall neatly into the horror genre. Past Sins is certainly more of an epic action thriller laced with sweat-soaked gun-wielding law enforcement and top secret government...vampires!

We follow a group of characters through the present day battle with the undead and witness the true story unfold through vivid flashbacks to the 60's. It is here we learn of the CIA's top secret special weapon, a Hungarian vampire. But when the project goes awry and vampire converts escape their ultra guarded CIA housings, Hell comes to America as local and national law enforcement embark on the enormous and maybe impossible task of controlling the spread.

This is one novel that begs for, if not needs, a sequel. It's apparent the events in this novel are only the tip of the iceberg. Ecker breaks many barriers in Past Sins. He focused on the magnitude of the situation and not the life histories of every character introduced. He didn't shy away from shifting points of view, allowing the events to be seen through the eyes of several characters almost seamlessly and in turn further amplifying the danger present. And he certainly wasn't afraid to kill off a likable character. Sorry folks, but this is reality, no happy endings here.

But overall, Ecker has produced an original vampire story and twist on the Lilith myth. You won't find any latex clad half-vampire superheroes here, just real people in ultra realistic combat with a supernatural entity brought to life. Remove the vampire and the story still has immeasureable impact on a world where government conspiracy and the fear of terrorism are our reality. It's a gritty epic fueled by the scent of fear, testosterone, blood, sweat and the tears for the fallen.

If you're a vampire enthusiast or just an action junky, you'll enjoy the new life breathed on both genres. Don, bring on the sequel!

"Write what you know," is the mantra of countless creative writing instructors. Don Ecker has taken this advice to heart. Mr. Ecker's background as a cop, special ops member in Viet Nam and researcher of all things strange for UFO Magazine, one of the top publications of its kind, has well prepared him for his debut novel.

Past Sins is a multi-layered pager turner for several reasons. Mr. Ecker's portrayal of elite soldiers and weary cops has the authenticity that comes from someone who understands both the hardware and the unique cultures, the way only an insider could. There are no cardboard super sleuths or indestructible Rambos to be found. Set in contemporary Los Angeles, the story is populated by characters the reader comes to care about, people that doubt, bleed and sometimes die.

What Past Sins shares with many classic stories we remember long after the last page has been turned is an underlying allegory. This story suggests the sins of an individual or a government may return to haunt the sinner. Mr. Ecker has chosen a timely theme indeed. Our government's marriage of convenience to flesh and blood monsters, from Nazis to dictators to drug lords and terrorists is a matter of historical record. The results of some of those unholy couplings are painfully obvious to even the most casual observer of current events.

This bitter little pill is wrapped in a sweet, action-rich vampire vs. cop/soldier thriller that leaves you unsure of the outcome until the last page.

I can hardly wait to see what Mr. Ecker comes up with next.

Robb Leach is a Sergeant/Supervisor with the Maywood, California Police Department, and is a prolific free-lance writer in his spare time.

Past Sins is a superb scary tale of black ops, tough cops, and vampires, but is also much more than that. Past Sins is a scary book that gave me nightmares galore as I plowed through it compulsively. It is a page-turner, but for me one I could not read at night, and I don't even believe in vampires! It delves deeply into the folklore and history surrounding vampirism, and blends this seamlessly in the story line, but it is also a portrait of good and evil, evil of the vilest kind, and this is found not only in the undead. In this novel it is debatable who was more evil and ruthless, the vampires, or those who tried to wield them as a weapon.

Past Sins is an allegory in addition to being a horrifying page-turner: it is fable for our time, because the title refers not to the sins of the undead but those of our own government. The premise, that the US government, in absolute secrecy, discovered and employed a vampire during the Cold War, is chillingly reminiscent of the historical record, were the US intelligence community showed itself willing to employ former nazis, Mafiosi, assorted homicidal despots, Ussama Bin Laden , reportedly little gray aliens , and finally even the French. The noble end of defeating Communism supposedly justified all of these "means." But as the US has learned painfully, the devils you support and employ you ultimately cannot control. In Past Sins , all hell literally breaks loose.

However, Past Sins functions not just as a horrifying tale, and not just as an allegory, but also as a vivid story with engaging characters. Don Ecker's fertile imagination has produced a wide cast of veteran soldiers, nervous Intel operatives, and hard-boiled cops all woven together in the cosmos that is LA. I was especially smitten by his portrait of the LA police, who deal with such horror and danger daily that even the appearance of vampirism barely provokes raised eyebrows among them. As one reads the book , one is soon involved with the characters and swept up in the wild train ride that finally ends with a shattering conclusion. For the US government, once fully aware that its horrid secret weapon has escaped, pulls out all stops to try to contain the evil is has unwittingly unleashed. I say : read this book!

Don Ecker's Past Sins makes a frightening and timely point that has nothing to do with the paranormal. When something really bad happens, it's the cops, soldiers, and ordinary citizens who can be counted on to do their best while the bureaucrats rush to cover their butts, if they do anything at all.

The something really bad in this case involves a series of vampire attacks in Los Angeles. The attacks are an enlistment drive, first salvos in a war waged by government-issue vampires and their recruits. The back story begins in the early days of the cold war when the CIA lucks into possession of an Eastern European refugee who happens to be a vampire and siezes the opportunity to weaponize the undead. Like so many government projects this one gets shelved when a trial run during the Vietnam War takes an unexpected ugly turn. Turns out, vampires don't respond well to authority. The book begins when one of the project subjects escapes with his own plans for how the world should be run.

The book is fast moving, compelling and frightening on many levels. Apart from the first order fear that a vampire war suggests, there's the underlying discomfort of knowing this is exactly something a government would do, given the chance. and this is likely how it would turn out. A charming feature of the book is that the only belief the reader is asked to suspend involves the possibility of vampires. That done, everyone behaves reasonably given the circumstances. Bad and good guys are equally likely to have horrific things happen to them, and no one can count on safety. Just like real life. The characters are well developed and there's a notable shortage of stereotypes, even among the undead. It's deliciously terrifying and will take you to a place that's hard to get back from, even during daylight.

Frances Anne Olson, D.D.S.

Past Sins was a roaring good story. Ecker really takes the vampire story in a very interesting direction. He also delivers characters that you come to know and care about, which is essential to any story of value. His vampires are VERY WELCOME throwbacks to the evil, seductive revenants of Le Fanu, Stoker and King, reanimated by malign force. They are not brooding, sparkly love struck good vampires who are searching for love in all the wrong places or want to be human again. They are takers, who spread horror to those who cross their path. What a refreshing change from the milquetoast, love sick "vampires" popular culture forces us to endure today. This is not a romance novel. It is a tough, hard, gritty horror novel.

Ecker does not leave these vampires to hide for the entire story. They have a surprising history known to a few men in government. And when that relationship, one born of dark motives, ends, then things spiral out of control and events begin to unravel in a terrible way that involves many people in an attempt to stop the horror from spreading. Like King, Ecker has no compunctions about killing off long standing characters you really get to like. As time goes on, you realize anyone can die and evil may win out. There are no sacred cows. Just good stuff and very fun reading.

In the current vast wasteland of romance stories that pretend to be vampire novels, Past Sins was a breath of fresh air.

Don Ecker is a Vietnam veteran and an ex-cop. In his first novel he takes his experience, combines it with some very good research in vampire folklore to write a very original vampire story - Past Sins: A novel of supernatural terror.

The plot involves CIA sneaky doings that, as foreshadowed in the title, comes back to bite the ass of the entire country. During the Cold War the CIA tries to secure the ultimate weapon against the Soviets and succeed - they find a vampire and attempt to harness the power of the evil creature in the name of national security. As always when one deals with the Devil, a high price is to be paid and sins of the past are visited upon the future. Biding his time in captivity, the vampire has his own agenda, ready to slip through the fragile confines of his captors and wreck havoc on the world. Of course he does, and so begins an adventure full of high octane law enforcement and military fire-power.

Fast paced, action packed, the author draws on his military and law enforcement knowledge to build a solid story that draws the reader into the novel with its realism. Characters are three dimensional, interesting and believable. Mr. Ecker has done a fine job researching folklore. His vamps are not soft vamps. No caped Counts in coffins or chronically depressed, mopey vampires here. The vamps of Past Sins are feral, predatory, inhuman creatures that are thoroughly scary - the kind vampire that existed in folklore of times long past. As it's rare to see an intelligent vampire story combined with action and adventure outside of a comic book, Past Sins gives the vampire genre a much needed breath of fresh air. For its freshness, action, authenticity and originality, I give it 5 stars. This book needs a sequel and I hope one is in the making. Also, this would make one entertaining action movie.

Bravo to Don Ecker for a wonderful debut novel. Keep them coming!

Ordinarily, I'm not a big fan of vampire tales, either in print or on screen. Anne Rice's books leave me cold, and most of the vampire movies I've seen, including those based to varying degrees on Bram Stoker's "Dracula," leave much to be desired. But every now and then a vampire story comes along that totally breaks this mold. Don Ecker's "Past Sins: A Novel of Supernatural Horror" is one of them. What sets this book apart, aside from its engaging style, believable characters, and pace, is its premise: that in 1965 the CIA discovered a bona fide Hungarian vampire, and that its subsequent decision to turn the creature into a Cold War weapon ultimately went terribly wrong. This lifts Ecker's novel far above run-of-the mill, pseudo-Gothic vampire novels and fuses it with the kind of spy/Cold War literature associated with writers like Tom Clancy and John Le Carré. If you add in elements of a "police procedural," of the sort made famous by former LAPD detective Joseph Wambaugh, you have what amounts to a new literary genre: the techno-espionage-vampire tale, which, I hope, the author will soon augment by writing a sequel.

However, in addition to being a page-turner, "Past Sins" is a cautionary tale. Anyone who reads it cannot help but become sensitive to the possibility that experiments conducted in the name of "national security" can have monstrous consequences, and that the powers-that-be are not infallible. It has been suggested that the rapid spread of HIV in the early 1980s was a consequence of a top-secret germ warfare experiment that got out of control. While I have serious doubts about the validity of this suggestion, Don Ecker's novel certainly adds credibility to the possibility that something like it might have happened, and that we must take nothing for granted. I heartily recommend "Past Sins" to a broad spectrum of readers, from horror fans to techno-thriller addicts, as well as to anyone who is concerned with the sometimes pathological nature of what Richard M. Dolan has called "the national security state."

I liked the pace of this one. It kept me looking forward to the next chapter. Whether you are a Sci Fi groupie, militarily affiliated or a Flatfoot, you're gonna Love it. Maybe the "Don" (Mr. Ecker) will cut himself on the front porch more often and spurn another spookster!!!

The writing was atrocious. The only reason I kept reading it was because I paid good money to buy the book. I won't make that mistake again!

I am almost as much offended by the many grammatical and punctuation errors in this book as I am by the stilted, contrived dialogue. Have all the editors been laid off? Are we now supposed to buy and read rough drafts of novels? What's going on here?