Vigil [NOOK Book]

fantastic horror tale

In Lago D¿Avernus, Italy, a cave that has been under water for millennia is finally able to be seen. Inside the cave is a fossil entombed of a block of stone. The fossil what could be seen of it has talons and some hominid aspects but the carbon dating shows it is too early for hominids to exist. In fact the fossil is as old as or older than the earth. Professor Russo is given permission to take the find to the United States where he will work with his friend Professor Carter Cox in an attempt to get some answers regarding the creature in the rock........................ An accident in the lab lets the creature loose, killing a professor and injuring Russo badly. Before he passes out he sees the creature of light is alive even though Carter has a hard time believing this story especially that the creature caused all the church bells to ring in the city at the same time. Ezra Metzberg, who just from Israel o come back to the United States, is piecing together and translating the last book of Enoch which has the answers to what the creature is. They join forces in the hope of preventing the apocalypse from happening by destroying it.......................... Take biblical history in the tradition of Dan Brown, mix it with a Tom Clancy thriller and place it in a Stephen King plot and one will have an idea what VIGIL is all about. This is an action packed fast-paced work of horror that gives an interpretation to an evil spoken about in the New Testament. Robert Masello is a talented writer who is not only worthy of a Bram Stoker award but is rising star in the horror horizon...................... Harriet Klausner

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

i'd recommend it to people who are out of books to read

there are very few authors who live up to my entertainment standards. in fact, christopher pike has written only, i believe, about five 'grown-up' books, and he seems to be the author who can captivate me from start to finish. i have finished some anne rice's as well. my favorite genre is horror/supernatural/suspense. that being said... i actually read this one all the way through! that's a huge compliment, considering that many of the 'greats' can't hold my attention past the first chapter. and while it was not one of those that i stayed up until four reading, i did spend most of my spare time reading it over the past three days. some parts were a tad cliche, but what books aren't these days? i found one character (ezra) particularly flat, but the rest were alright. as for the prior reviewer that gave that confusing review about 'faulty science', i would disregard that, it does not take away from the book AT ALL for the layperson who is looking for a good read. i was looking for a novel, not a textbook. i was actually greatful for both my basic college paleontology and art history classes. all in all, i would read this masello fellow again.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fun, light reading in the Preston/Child vein

This book is difficult to classify. It's not quite horror, not quite a mystery, and not action/adventure, though the set-up is reminiscent of 'Relic' by Preston and Child, and similar titles. On the positive side, it's a fun story with some elements of mystery sprinkled in. Most of the characters are compelling as well. On the downside, the last 'battle' is pretty lame, and the ending has been done before. The writing is a bit shaky. I like a strong first person or third person point-of-view, but Masello jumps back-and-forth between character's pov's during a scene, which I find distracting. Overall-expect to be entertained but not blown away.

Expected more due to the great reviews

I am surprised that so many readers gave this book such outstanding reviews. I thought the story, as a whole, was disappointing. This book really should not be classified as a horror novel - another facet of my disappointment. I kept reading to 'get to the good part' that never really materialized.

Unique and Exciting

I bought this book on a whim, judging it by the great cover and first few pages. And I was not disapointed at all. The story picks up speed quickly and never slows down. The ending was gratifying and tense. The settings were eerie and vivid. I don't want to say anything about the story, but as far as I know, it's an original concept. The best thing about Vigil, which is harder and harder to find these days is it is extremely readable. I read Decipher before this and it was so technical and over stuffed with unessasary detail. This was a breath of fresh air. Easy to read, which meant getting into the story was a breeze. An awesome book.

Was an okay read, but could have been better

'As terrifying as 'The Omen' or 'The Exorcist'' and 'You'll be sleeping with the lights on after reading this one. Haunting and unforgettable... A heart-stopping story of mythic evil, brought to terrifying life in modern-day New York.' Two quotes attributed to author, Jeff Long. My question is... was he reading the same book I just read? 'Vigil' was an entertaining read, yes, but seriously lacking in what these quotes promised. There were a couple of parts where the author was able to create a suspenseful mood, but it was very quickly lost. I did not find anything in the story that delivered on that 'terrifying' aspect promised by Jeff Long. Even the ending lacked a satisfying build-up of suspense and terror, and fell flat with its conclusion. All in all, an okay read, but probably not one I will go our of my way to read again.

Exciting and Enthralling!

Vigil is a fast-moving, brilliantly plotted adventure that's fascinating from first page to last. Author Robert Masello has a profound grasp of his unusually riveting material, and the depth of his knowledge adds immeasurably to the vividness of his story. The characters--from the intriguing Arius to the multi-dimensional hero Carter Cox--are fully drawn and realized. Despite the supernatural elements, the story is completely believable. Like Dan Brown, Masello has transcended his genre and written an exciting, action-filled story that should have a huge readership. I found myself finishing the book at 3 am, under the covers with a flashlight. You really can't put this one down. Don't miss it!

Interesting story, inconsistent writing, and faulty science

First for the 'good': While I was somewhat distracted by the inconsistent writing (especially dialogue/human interaction), I found the story to be interesting and adequately developed, (at least up until the 'resolution', which, when it comes, seems to come too quickly and holds few surprises). A prior reviewer characterizes the novel as boring, and I agree it is slow in parts, but the underlying story may be worth the slog through the muddy bits. Now for the 'bad': If you have any knowledge (even middling) about dating techniques in archeology and (more appropriately) paleontology, as well as the concepts and terminology of those fields, this book is likely not for you. For example, even though the author correctly identifies the half-life of carbon-14 at approximately 5,730 years, he then has his characters use the radiocarbon method to date a piece of ancient fossil (in which organic material containing carbon should have long before been replaced with minerals) at several millions years old, which the characters speak of as off the chart. Such results, were they obtainable, would be 'off the chart' because radiocarbon dating can only be used effectively to date organic material (not fossil material) that is less than 50,000 years old (at least in the more conservative, older method - some researchers claim newer methods can date organic material up to 200,000 years old) it cannot be used to date fossilized material that is several million years old. This is just one example of the bad, or at least misused, science in the book. While these issues may not be distracting to the casual reader, they caused me to lose my 'suspension of disbelief' in several key sections of the book.

Started out great, but...

I picked this one up off the new paperbacks rack and got to reading. I ended up buying it and taking it home. This was one of those books you want to just read straight through -- which is pretty much what I did yesterday! The story starts out pretty exciting and builds from there. I've got to say, though, I was pretty disappointed with the ending. It just kind of left me hanging, thinking 'huh? that's it?'

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