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Mar 28, 2019M_Matt rated this title 2.5 out of 5 stars
Raymond A. Villarreal’s freshman novel has an enticing look and title. Billing itself as an oral history of the emergence of vampires into modern society, Villarreal’s story gets off to a promising start as a rookie CDC doctor investigates mysterious goings on in Nogales, Arizona. On the surface, this novel possess a winning formula. It has elements of Max Brook’s World War Z, Guillermo del Toro’s The Strain, and Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries. Unfortunately, it fails to fully execute or expand upon these ideas. Mr. Villarreal can be applauded for pursuing some interesting socio-political questions, yet even these are never fully realized due to the myriad directions his plot-lines attempt to travel. I wanted this novel to work and I think that is one of the reasons it pains me so that it doesn’t. There are some great concepts which if executed well, could really have shined. Villarreal’s freshman work comes off as just that. His characters lack complete arcs, or fall into painfully poor tropes. The plot is so fractured and frayed that it becomes exhausting to follow. Elements like news articles, footnotes and appendices pull the reader out of the story instead of adding to it. There is a subplot which follows a Jesuit Priest that could have been cut from the novel entirely. Mr. Villarreal’s writing of Father John Reilly comes off as ignorant of what an actual Jesuit is like, and falls into a tired Dan Brown-esque conspiracy. Late in the novel, when there is a major reveal regarding Father Reilly - I couldn’t bring myself to care. His story started out with promise like many of the others, but the character had been forced through so many poor plot devices - I gave up on him. Hugo Zumthor is perhaps Mr. Villarreal’s greatest weakness in the novel. As the FBI agent in charge of the vampire (Gloaming as they prefer to be called) task force, Zumthor seems to fail his way to the top. The character’s over the top bravado and 80’s buddy cop one liners would be more at home in a satire piece than a purported oral history. For someone familiar with the manner in which actual law enforcement personnel conduct themselves, this character is mildly infuriating. I found myself rooting for the Gloamings to devour Agent Zumthor, instead he is saved time and again by the cavalry trope. Exacerbating the flawed character writing is a plot arc which is less of an arc than a doomed EKG track. Mr. Villarreal unsuccessfully tries to juggle half a dozen plot-lines. Leaving questions unanswered and plot-lines unfulfilled can be an effective storytelling method, but ending your first novel without resolving a single one is ineffective storytelling. This novel wouldn’t have burned me so badly if I didn’t see its potential. Using vampires as an allusion to the rich and powerful is a keen plot tool, and Mr. Villarreal’s knowledge of the legal system would have been fascinating had he not dumped an entire Supreme Court opinion into the middle of the novel. This novel seems destined for a sequel. I hope it sees significantly more time on the editor’s desk.