Customer Reviews

Vampire Vow

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

WARNING: People of faith who don't like their religion to be challenged should NOT read this book. You'll likely be shocked, even mortified, and probably won't get past the first five pages. (This is based on the reactions I'm sure would come from my own friends and family.)

However, in general, I found this book fascinating. I read it all in one setting (made easier as it's only around 200 pages), and even read certain parts over again when they really threw me.

Victor is a Roman officer serving Pilate who is madly in love with Jesus (before he became Christ). Jesus rejected any possibility for a relationship, although not for the reasons you might expect. In response, Victor became a vampire, with a future pass to the "Kingdom of Darkness." His sole eternal goal: to corrupt young men and thereby destroy the Church.

Skip a few millennia filled with thousands of victims, and you come to a small monastery in rural Tennessee. Enter "Brother" Victor. Add a couple victims. Add a tall, strong young Brother. And you've got an interesting tale of hate, lust and . . . love?

To be honest, I found Victor's idea of Love to be very "confusing." He loved someone so much that he'd try to destroy what they were / stood for? He loved someone so much that when hey chose light over darkness, he physically assaulted him and forced him to endure physical, spiritual and emotional pain? And he rejected love when it was offered in a pure form? . . . Not what I think of when I "love" someone.

(On a side note, if you're looking for an erotic vampire story, this one's geared for gay audiences. So keep that in mind.)

As well, some of the spiritual subject matter did not register at all with me. Perhaps that's because I'm not Catholic. But growing up in a conservative, Bible-reading home, much of the story did make me cringe. It definitely took the questions many of us have about faith to an extreme level.

As a final word, the book was good reading. If you can get past the "sacriligiousness" (most of you won't), it may be read as an interesting dialogue of God's relationship to man. But if all you want is a thrill, there's enough vampirism to make a good story and maybe a few good nightmares!

I've read just about every vampire novel that's out there, but I've never come across one that is centered around a gay vampire monk in love with Jesus. Some may find this very hard to swallow, others may find it disgraceful, some, like myself, may find it hard to put down.

Now, I'm a heterosexual female and I must say that some scenes didn't agree with me. They weren't the scenes that included guy on guy action, but actually, the more gory ones bothered me the most. Michael Schiefelbein's vampire is more animal than man. The way he discards his victims like yesterday's garbage is almost apalling. But one of Schiefelbein's characters explains the vampire's actions justly; "nature is nature." But I just wasn't used to this because so many authors nowadays write about the romantic vampire.

This take on the vampire was very refreshing. I also thoroughly enjoyed Schiefelbein's writing style. I found that the book was so easy to read, that it was done and I was reading the sequel (Vampire Thrall) before I knew it.

Don't discount this title because of its homosexual content. It truly is something different and enjoyable if you just let yourself be taken away by the story. It's really hard to explain unless you actually sit down and read it.

If you are offended by gore, violence, and homosexual sex (and rape), I suggest you look elsewhere.

The protagonist of this novel is a Roman officer who, when his carnal desire for a young Jesus Christ is unrequited, turns to the dark side, and becomes a vampire at the behest of an ancient Ethiopian priestess. HUH?!?

I suppose the premise is interesting enough, even though it's mildly offensive. Homosexual yearnings from and toward Jesus are nothing new, but in this novel, is presented at its most base and deplorable. Frustrated that he can't "get inside" Jesus, the protagonist, Victor, sets off on a string of rapes and murders that eventually causes him to flee for his life. At this point, he is turned into a vampire. If you're looking for the sensuous and romantic vampires of Anne Rice lore, you're not going to find them here. Victor is nothing but a two thousand year old carcass looking to punish Christians because he was forsaken by his beloved, Jesus.

There's no emotional investment with this character. He is presented as one-dimensional; a rogue demon filled with anger and a sexual thirst equaled only by a penchant for violence. While some of the scenes are erotic, there's no real passion or longing, so they just ring hollow. While reading page after page of how Victor longs to find a lover that will satisfy and challenge him as Jesus did, one becomes more and more disillusioned that for all of his living, Victor hasn't learned much. At the end, his situation hasn't changed, except he's left a larger pile of bodies behind.

Just finished reading this book, in one sitting. It is amazing, and only gets 4,5 stars, because I read Blood Brothers earlier this week, and I liked that story better, but only by a little.

The main character, Victor, is horrifying. He is a vampire, who draws blood in ways I have never seen described (then again I do not read pure horror vampire stories). But then he has this... can I call it vulnerability?

It is why I kept reading, the fact that, even in his darkness, he did love. Love ultimately drove him to darkness. By the end of the book I wanted him to succeed in his mission of finding someone to take his place. Then again, I am a hopeless romantic sometimes :)

I am glad I already ordered Vampire Thrall, and know the sequel, Vampire Transgression, is just out. I have the feeling that even after that moment, I will not be sick of Victor yet, because he is _that_ good a character.

When I first started to read this book, I wasn't sure if I would like it. It was very graphic and Victor, the main character, just didn't seem able to relate to. But after the first 30 pages, I was hooked. As the book moved, the writing became more fluid and Victor became more refined. When it was over, I wanted it to be longer.

This book is for those that are open minded, that's for sure. Those that don't want their beliefs questioned would not like it at all. There are some graphic bits of homosexuality too. I thought this would bother me but as the book went on, it felt natural for the characters.

I would recommend this book for those looking for a fast and enjoyable read.

When I first started to read this book, I wasn't sure if I would like it. It was very graphic and Victor, the main character, just didn't seem able to relate to. But after the first 30 pages, I was hooked. As the book moved, the writing became more fluid and Victor became more refined. When it was over, I wanted it to be longer.

This book is for those that are open minded, that's for sure. Those that don't want their beliefs questioned would not like it at all. There are some graphic bits of homosexuality too. I thought this would bother me but as the book went on, it felt natural for the characters.

I would recommend this book for those looking for a fast and enjoyable read.

This book is highly addictive and very well written. It sucks you in and will not let you go, not until you are done reading it. It captures the raw savagery that is Victor Decimus, and makes you yearn for what he desperately wants. You feel the sheer anger and love that radiates through him for his young "Joshu" and then you feel his intrigue for the young Brother Michael, the thrill of wanting someone so independent and righteous.

I recommend this book for all people who enjoy raw and savage vampires, who enjoy the feeling of lusting after the forbidden fruit, and who seek the love of another.

Vampire Vow is the story of the Roman soldier Victor Decimus, stationed in Palestine, who is obsessed with the one thing he could never have, the physical conquest of Jesus. As Jesus repeatedly refuses his sexual advances, Victor's rage becomes self-destructive and he chooses to flee imprisonment, and worse, humiliation, by becoming a Vampire. At the same time Victor enters the Dark Kingdom, he meets for the last time the risen Christ, who rejects him one final time, ascending into Heaven. Victor blames God for depriving him of the only one he ever loved, and sets about, over the next 2 millennium, the systematic destruction of what to him is the symbol of God, the idealistic men of Monastic life. Settling in at a monastery in present day rural Tennessee, Victor meets the pious monk Michael, perhaps almost an equal to Jesus in spirituality, and attempts to win Michael over to everlasting life in the Dark Kingdom.

Michael Schiefelbein has superbly crafted a powerful, gripping novel. The character of Victor as a raw, crude, vicious villain serves as the perfect counterpoint to Michael, who, like Jesus, is a pure, spiritual, unbreakable man. And there is no better place than a serene Monastary for a brutal monster to conceal his true nature. His expert, first hand knowledge of the priesthood and Catholicism adds dimension and reality to the plot and charaters. The most devout Christian would appreciate his handling of Jesus. And indeed, that just adds authenticity to the creation of the plot. The book is fast paced and fluid, an easy, pleasing read. I highly recommend it, especially to people interested in a great mix of gay fiction, Vampires and the priesthood.

In his premier novel, Vampire Vow, Michael Schiefelbein has employed the conventions of gothic fiction with wit, passion, and intelligence, a combination that will render his book a crossover success because these qualities will appeal to a wide range of readers, including those (like me) who would not normally read vampire novels. Vampire fans will relish the renate lore; gay readers, the homoeroticism; scholars, the clever exploration of philosophical and theological themes. The sly Dr. Schiefelbein has produced (without being explicit about it) a debate between Christ and Nietzche's Anti-Christ, in the role of the novel's protagonist and uebermensch, Victor Decimus. Leaving the crypt door open for a sequel, the novel delivers tight plotting, vivid characterization, and demonic romanticism. --Thomas L. Long, Editor, Harrington Gay Men's Fiction Quarterly

The author's curriculum on the bookcover mentions his being a professor of writing AND literature. As a matter of fact he must be: not a single redundant description, not a clumsy turn of phrase, not a wasted word are to be found in this extremely fast paced story, too short to be a real novel.
This is so true I found myself considering if a couple more pages would not have bettered an already breathtaking narration giving it a little more depth.

The plot is original and interesting, flashbacks short and always to the point, characterization consistent and focused. The reader has to be able to catch subtle hints, sometimes, but if he/she manages to do it, not a single fact looks unjustified.

Many reviewers have complained about gore and violence: both are present, the main character being a bloodthirsty, selfish son of a b...h, but blood and (homosexual) sex are never indulged upon, they just look like necessary engines to push the story forward.
Mr Schiefelbein seems much more interested in outlining the complex attitude of his characters towards religion and he does it tastefully, though I think a catholic reader might argue with me on this.

This is an excellent read, entertaining, which seems to fall short of literature out of choice rather than out of limits. It should not be read by minors or sensitive people.