First published in 1999, is David Niall Wilson’s first and most important novel. It is a retelling of the gospel from a very different perspective. When Jesus goes into the desert and is tempted by the devil, there is one temptation added. One of the fallen is raised as a woman to tempt him with the flesh. Instead, the woman, named Mary of Magdalene, falls in love with Jesus and his promise of … with Jesus and his promise of returning her to Heaven.
Cursed to follow him and drink the blood of his followers, Mary walks a fine line between her desire to love and support the Christ, and her burning need to return to Heaven. This novel takes the world of faith, which was the world of men, and of the apostles, and shows it through the eyes of a fallen angel — one who has, in her own words, walked the roads of both Heaven, and Hell. She doesn’t believe there is a God… she knows.
Faithful to the storyline of the original gospels, only weaving in new things when there are gaps in the old, this is a novel of faith, redemption, and ultimate sacrifice.
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Jesus gets a lot of vampire jokes made about him. I say this with dead seriousness. “JESUS THE VAMPIRE: Jesus gave his blood, now he wants it back – coming to a theater near you” is a T-shirt I’ve seen before. This is a in part because the 19th century vampire (and later Hammer Horror’s depictions) is a creature which incorporates many elements …
For me, this was the book that put David Niall Wilson in the category of The Masters. A unique, haunting take on Biblical lore — contemplative, philosophical, deep… and fun.