Midnight Mass

by F. Paul Wilson

How can mortal men defeat an immortal and seemingly invincible enemy?

Vampires control all of Europe, India, the Far East and the major cities in North and South America. It seems that nothing can stand in their way and that humanity will become cattle for the harvesting, the source of the blood of life.

People aren't even safe from their own kind. Human 'cowboys' enlisted by the vampires herd other humans in return for the promise of the bite of eternal life - someday.

The vampire forces have come to a small town in coastal New Jersey to finish pacifying the area. Dan, a disgraced priest accused of abuse, hides out and drinks, waiting for the end - until he is galvanized into action by his niece, who has fled the collapse of New York; a rabbi; and a nun who has become a killer of both cowboys and vampires. Together, they fortify an abandoned church and defy the conquering swarm. A surprising success shows them a ray of hope for humanity's survival, but an overwhelming challenge stands in their way - the new vampire King of New York.

Genres: Horror, Vampires, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Paranormal, Thriller

403 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Francis Paul Wilson is an author, born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He writes novels and short stories primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer (1976). Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog and continued to write science fiction throughout the seventies. In 1981 he ventured into the horror genre with the international bestseller, The Keep, and helped define the field throughout the rest of the decade. In the 1990s he became a true genre hopper, moving from science fiction to horror to medical thrillers and branching into interactive scripting for Disney Interactive and other multimedia companies. He, along with Matthew J. Costello, created and scripted FTL Newsfeed which ran daily on the Sci-Fi Channel from 1992-1996.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/fpaulw...

Reviews

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I sat up late and finished this book last night. It's not a "bad book" I didn't hate it, but I had some gripes and it really didn't hold my interest.

I like Wilson's "Repairman Jack" books, at least I've liked most of them so far. So when I read the synopsis of this one and it sounded interesting, I picked it up.

I am sort of a "vampire purist" if you are referring to the vampires we all know from Bram Stoker, that is the Eastern European variety (as opposed to say the Asian vampires which are based on a totally different mythology). I'm always a bit annoyed by the modern romantic, lonely, "safe", "friendly", "why don't we date", vampires. If you like vampire protagonists, that's fine...I don't. Wilson expressed the same sentiments here so that interested me a bit over and above the plot. Unfortunately Mr. Wilson's view of blood-suckers seems to have been influenced more by movies than by Bram Stoker (though Stoker's classic vamps have been pretty badly used in the last few years to). He admits that the "folklore vampires" didn't die in the sunlight, but he chooses to use the device...okay fine. I'm not fond of it, but okay. The big change was his use of the "everyone who gets bit becomes a vamp" motif. Again it's his book and that's fine...but it bugs me as vampires from Stoker on had to purposefully "make" another vamp. (Of course in folklore there was some disagreement as to how one became a vamp, suicides and others were thought to change also. Oh well).

As I said I've read the Repairman Jack books, but a good many years ago I ran across a Wilson book "The Keep" which I found, much like this one...okay but not great. The way I felt about that book was why it took me so long to try Repairman Jack. Wilson calls The Keep a pseudo-vampire book, I suppose that's a good definition, but he ends up dealing with the same "issues" here that he tried to deal with there. Wilson described himself in the intro to this book as a "recovering Catholic" I don't know (I'm not a Roman Catholic)if that's the same as what other Catholics would call a "failed Catholic" or not...but Wilson certainly has issues with belief.

Most "traditional" vampire stories use Christian symbology...this has just been part of the story. Wilson apparently struggles with this. One of his characters describes herself as a "confirmed agnostic". I suppose that to be Mr. Wilson's stance also based on the book's plot and story. (By the way, as "agnostic" means "I don't know" how can one be a "confirmed I don't know"? Just my weird brain asking the question I guess) In The Keep the "semi-cross" (it turns out not to be a cross) that drives back the pseudo-vampire (or proto-vampire) causes a sort of crisis of faith for an old Jewish man. In this book he incorporates a Rabi into his protagonists...however this guy seems to be handling things a lot better (like maybe he regards Jesus as a nice Jewish boy or something). I wonder why we didn't have a Buddhist, an Islamic, maybe a Taoist...the possible list is endless. He writes some miraculous scenes but seems (to me) a little uncomfortable with it and makes it a sort of...we don't get this but look it works, sort of thing.

It's a readable book and some will undoubtedly like it far more than I did. I didn't hate it. I give it 3 stars but don't plan to reread, recommend, or keep it.

[Lizz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.

As my Year of the Vampire continues, I’m searching for more fangy stories. Midnight Mass was included in the Audible membership and strangely enough, I’ve yet to read any Wilson. This book wouldn’t encourage me to seek out another offering.

I sit sweating, desperately awaiting a new air conditioning unit to replace my broken one, lacking the strength to critique. Is it enough to simply say it was awful? Ok I’ll allow myself a bit of complaining.

The characters were paper-thin stereotypes. The Irish nun (faith and beggorah!), the backwards-talking rabbi (to be so lucky, we aren’t) and the lesbian feminist anarchist who gets gang-raped (sorry for the semen-scented spoiler).

The vampires were a boring mafia organization of jerks with human goons under their long-nailed thumbs. Oh and the humans on their team were marked by a long stupid earring. What, no weird tattoo or cool scar?

The plot was clearly (painfully) stretched to novel length over a long period of time. The beginning parts, which comprised the original short story, weren’t that bad. Maybe the Repairman Jack stories are more to my taste.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

So a rabbi, a priest, a psychotic nun and a militant lesbian atheist walk into a bar... Sounds like the beginning of a truly awful joke, doesn't it? That's exactly what I thought when a friend of mine was describing it to me. I'd never read any F. Paul Wilson before and have to admit to not a few ounces of trepidation, yet I am always interested in tales of fiendish bloodsuckers crushing mortals under their heels so figured I'd give it a shot.

Wilson writes in the forward to this quick action read that he wanted to write a book that returned vampires to their crypts and sewers rather than the romantic aesthetes that Anne Rice and Stephanie Meyer have turned these horrors into. The premise is simple: tired of hiding in the shadows, vampires have come out of their coffins and made their existence known to the world. Yet, whereas Charlaine Harris' vampires are interested in co-existing with humankind, Wilson's hordes sweep first across the former Soviet bloc nations and then the rest of the world, bringing humanity to heel and now beginning to begin their incursion in the New World.

Wonderful premise, right? Who doesn't want to hear tales of humankind's war against the cognizant undead (as opposed to the mindless shuffling of zombie hordes)? Sadly, Wilson decides to portray the human resistance as being solely in the hands of disaffected priest, wily rabbi and traumatized nun. Are we really to believe that the rest of the world is so paralyzed by an inability to wrap their head around the fact that vampires actually exist that they just lie back with their throats exposed? No one thought to resist before these three people in New Jersey? Also, once the revolution begins are these ancient creatures so inept that they can't even muster an adequate defense? A lot of characters do a lot of stupid illogical things.

Yet that's the world that Wilson chooses to work in so, I guess, as readers we just have to go with it. His vamps are definitely not the emo poseurs of Anne Rice, but true monsters who care not a lick for the fleshbags that make up their meals. Midnight Mass is a fun read that I didn't want to put down and served as a nice distraction from the lengthy tome that has been my primary reading material of late. It definitely makes me interested in reading F. Paul Wilson's highly regarded Repairman Jack books.

[Badseedgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

So a Priest, a Rabbi, and a Nun walk into a desecrated church........
I know it sounds like a very bad and probably socially unacceptable joke, but this was my first thought when I started reading this book by F. Paul Wilson. But it actually does this very dark and serious vampire apocalypse fiction a disservice.

Mr. Wilson has been on my radar for several years, most notably because he wrote The Keep, which is on several best Horror novels lists (and which I have not read as yet), but he was awarded the World Horror Convention Grand Master award in 2005. Despite al this, Midnight Mass was the first book by him I have read. It will not be the last.

This is a dark and bloody story of the world domination of the Vampires and a group of New Jersey residents who fight back.; many of whom die horrific and noble deaths in the process. When I look at the above sentence I think, "this book can not possibly work," and yet it does.

These are not the romantic vampires of Interview with the Vampire or Twilight. That is shown very early in the book, but neither are these the drooling horrors of Nosferatu. Also, each "get" or generation of vampire is different from it's progenitor, a little less human.

The one negative I have is this felt like the start of a series but it was written in 2005 and there has been no second book as yet. Now, Mr. Wilson is still alive, so there is always hope.

[Dystopian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another 'meh'! It doesn't go with my taste-bud. Not even a little bit.

[Lukasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fun vampire pulp fiction. Gory, well-paced, and without sexy or friendly vampires. Vamps here are as they should be - evil, lethal, and predatory.

[Bagel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I ended up putting this one down 30 pages from the ending b/c i got busy with other shit, but then 29 days out from my last update, I realized i don't actually give a damn what happens in the end. Wilson writes in the introduction that he wanted to get back to vampires that were actually scary and predatory instead of brooding and mysteriously sexy. I agree with the goal but he missed by a mile with this book. The bad guys are one note and only frightening in an 80's high-on-coke-&-power Wall Street executive way and the good guys, a down and out drunk priest and a nun that's turned to playing killer prostitute are too busy being guilty about their wavering faith and growing sin tally to be interesting. If you want a scary vampire tale I say stick with the old standby's Bram and Salem's Lot.

[Elaine Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much has been said about this stand-alone? novel, so I won't elaborate on what others have said. I will praise the storyline in that it develops real-life situations such as we are now enduring with Covid-19. Many situations in the book have parallels to what is going on in our lives right now, including a complete lack of leadership and direction from anyone other than those at ground level who unite and take a stand (and yes, it reminds me of "The Stand," very much.)

I found myself thinking about religion, faith, courage, friendship, love, etc. in whole new ways as I read.

[William Malmborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

If vampires are real, and their bite spreads the infection, then how come they haven’t taken over the world? I used to hear this question all the time when I was younger, my little brother always tossing it my way whenever I tried to talk to him about a possible vampire novel or series that I wanted to write (still want to write). It is a legitimate question, yet one that I never had a satisfactory answer for at the time, and rather than trying to reason it out with him, I usually just switched topics to something more easily discussed -- something like UFOs or Bigfoot. Later I realized my brother wasn’t the only one asking this question and that it has actually been a topic of debate in the horror community for decades, one that is often ‘explained’ to us time and time again through the visions of horror writers and filmmakers. Sometimes these visions are pretty good and the reasons given for the lack of a vampire ruled world seems legit, other times it is just silly (vampires are just troubled humans who don’t really want to hurt anyone and therefore keep their desires in check until the need for blood is unbearable -- come on, they are ‘creatures’ of the night, not ‘delicate troubled youths’ of the night!). And then sometimes an explanation is not needed because the vision presented gives us a world ruled by vampires.

F. Paul Wilson gives us just such a vision in his novel Midnight Mass, a semi-apocalyptic tale that pits the last remnants of humanity against the vampires who, realizing an opportunity for world domination after the fall of the Soviet Union, have taken over all of Europe and Asia, their spread rapid due to the ability to create vampires with each kill. Now, however, wanting to keep the spread of vampires in check so that they don’t become too many for the limited human blood supply, the vampires move slowly in conquering North America, the goal being to round up all the humans into ‘cattle camps’ while taking over the major cities. Using human counterparts known as ‘cowboys’ to do most of the dirty work, the vampires are well on their way to accomplishing their goal of ruling the world. In New Jersey, however, a small group of humans have decided they would rather fight to the death than give in to being cattle, and have barricaded themselves inside a church. Hunting down and killing cowboys by day, and then hunkering down and protecting themselves against the vampires at night, these humans have pretty much accepted the idea that they will eventually be destroyed and just want to cause as much trouble for the vampires as they can. While doing this they make a chance discovery, one which just might give humanity an opportunity for survival. At the same time their continual destruction has caught the eye of New York’s Vampire King, one who views these humans as a thorn that must be plucked free. Will the small band of humans be able to survive the Vampire King, and spread hope for humanity, or will they too succumb to the overwhelming power of the vampire threat?

Originally intended as a novella for a vampire themed publication in the early nineties, one which was then added to over the years as opportunities arose to revisit the compelling vampire landscape by publishers looking for new stories, F. Paul Wilson slowly but surely managed to create a vampire novel that is considered by many to be one of the best of the genera -- something which I won’t argue against because I believe it to be true as well. A big part of this success was due to F. Paul Wilson’s desire to use the well known basic vampire myths in creating this novel rather than twisting them around or creating his own like so writers have done over the years (Stephen King made this decision when writing ‘Salem’s Lot, which in turn created a ‘best of the vampire genera’ book as well, something which Wilson praises in his introduction to Midnight Mass). Another important factor was the writing talent used to produce this story, talent that many readers have discovered over the years and desperately crave. One doesn’t have to be a vampire fan to enjoy Midnight Mass, but, like the infectious bite of the vampire, one may be turned into a fan of such tales once this book grabs hold. If nothing else it will make one a F. Paul Wilson fan, assuming of course that one isn’t already a fan of this author’s wonderful story telling abilities.

[Carm · Rating 1 out of 5]

My first issue with this book, is that I assumed it was the source material for Mike Flanagan’s “Midnight Mass” TV series on Netflix. It’s not. That’s on me. A simple Google search, you know? So, that’s not really an issue I have with the book... just with my reading experience. Instead, what I got was a below average vampire story that takes place in the freshly post 911, wildly problematic early aughts. In the forward, the author makes fun of modern interpretations of vampires. Now, remember... I expected a different story, written in a different decade. I assumed he meant “Twilight” until I realized that he was talking about Anne Rice. Blasphemy.

This book is lousy with conservative Catholicism. Anyone who can be categorized as “other” is systematically punished/destroyed. Our only Jewish character, an altruistic rabbi, is called a kike by a church parishioner shortly before he sacrifices himself to save the entire congregation. Our single queer character, who is not coincidentally also an atheist and feminist, is gang raped. Our “hero” is a white male catholic priest. He was ousted from his church after being falsely accused of being a pedophile by a scorned woman he refused to sleep with. He basically gets superpowers. Praise Jesus. His “love interest”, a nun turned vampire slayer... she gets straight up “fridged”. Kyle Rayner has always been my favorite Green Lantern, but if you know, you know. You know? She has feelings for our protagonist and because she questions her faith, or maybe simply because she’s a woman, she also has to go. Nearly every living male character in this book is motivated exclusively by his penis. What a time to be alive. The only black character is... just kidding. There aren’t any black characters. Oh! And I would hate it if I forgot to mention that this book is also Islamophobic *cough*, ahem... I mean patriotic. Remember “freshly post 911”? #NeverForget

Actually... this is a book that I would like to forget. I’m going to need a palate cleanser after this one.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Midnight Mass was interesting enough, but only just enough to keep me reading. The vampires are awful creatures and not lovey-doveys; that alone makes it star-worthy. The other characters...well, let me roll my eyes and say that another reviewer hit the nail on the head when he joked about a priest, a rabbi, a nun, and a militant lesbian walking into a bar. The pacing of the story was good and there was plenty of build-up and action. I just can't point to the reason why I found it only just good enough, but perhaps it is because this book falls more into the urban fantasy genre than horror.

[Mike Finn · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Midnight Mass' is one of those books that should come with multiple trigger warnings for torture, gang rape, sexual slavery, the murder of children, desecration, executed bodies hung from telegraph poles, and cannibalism.

I read to the end of the book because the plot had its hooks in me and I wanted to see how things would work out. With the benefit of hindsight, the knowledge wasn't worth the trauma - which means my experience pretty much mirrors that of the 'good guys' in the story.

In his 'Author's Note' at the beginning of the book, F. Paul Wilson explains that 'Midnight Mass' was

'born out of my dissatisfaction with the tortured romantic aesthetes who have been passing lately for vampires. I wanted to get back to roots and write about the soulless, merciless, parasitic creatures we all knew and loved,’

He certainly succeeded in that. There is nothing to like about these vampires and a great deal to fear. They are some of the nastiest vampires I've read about: physically repulsive, merciless, predatory, aggressive, fundamentally selfish but organised, adept at psychological warfare and bent on world domination. Perhaps the scariest thing about these vampires is that they think the same way that the guys behind Bannon do. They set out to destroy hope and trust by weaponising the most violent and selfish elements of humanity and then use fear to keep control.

F. Paul Wilson doesn't stop at one set of monsters. He also gives us the Cowboys / Vichy / Serfs. These are the dregs of humanity - biker gangs, drug dealers,  violent criminals, city traders - who keep the vampires safe by day and wrangle the human cattle in exchange for being turned into vampires after ten years of service.

So who does Wilson set against this growing empire of evil? Sadly the 'good guys' read like the start of a joke and they end up being cliché heavy. The 'good guys' are:

A Rabbi who is prepared to wear a crucifix if it keeps vampires away. He was the only good guy I believed in.

A nun turned vigilante assassin who uses her chemistry teacher background to make bombs, napalm and suicide vests.

A Catholic priest with a drink problem, exiled from his parish after being accused of molesting a child.

The priest’s niece a vegan, atheist, lesbian and nunchuck wielding martial arts expert.

F Paul Wilson really puts these good guys through hell and he gives no guarantees that they'll survive the experience.

Wilson describes himself as someone who was raised as a Catholic but is in remission. I was surprised at his very naive portrayal of the two nuns in the book. I've never met nuns quite so unworldly as these two.

The best thing about 'Midnight Mass', the thing that kept me reading to the end, was the cleverness of the plot. The vampire strategy for taking over America was well thought-through, the vampire world-building was effective without getting mired in detail and I was constantly kept guessing about what the good guys would do to oppose the vampires and whether or not they would succeed.

The bad thing about 'Midnight Mass', the thing that almost made me set it aside a couple of times was that the violence was graphic cruel, degrading, frequent and utterly casual. I thought that this was made worse by the unconvincing reactions of the good guys to what was going on. They bounced back too easily. They felt guilty about all the wrong things. They weren't angry enough. All of which tended to normalise what the vampire and the cowboys were doing.

'Midnight Mass' was made into a movie directed by Tony Mandile, who also wrote the screenplay together with F. Paul Wilson. In the movie the good guy characters get compressed from four to two. The rabbi and the nun disappear. The reviews I've read are all of the 'Don't bother with this' kind or worse.

The book is better but it's certainly not for everybody.

[Jane Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book kept my interest. There were some neat ideas, but the ending was bad.

I wanted to give this 4 stars, but I went with 3 because of the ending. It was good concerning a battle and there was hope for the future. But I was annoyed because two good guys died at different times in the book.

The vampires are taking over the world. It’s apocalyptic. A few individuals make some cool wins against the vampires. I liked the intelligence and thoughtfulness.

I liked the group of four main characters and how they interacted. I loved the way a nun became a great guerilla fighter who killed humans and vampires, yet she had angst over what she had become. We see the beginning of a love relationship between two characters but it’s not developed. I wish more had been done with that.

Some ideas I liked:

(p 267-268) A lesbian was gang raped by a group of men who helped the vampires. The following are her thoughts. “In the old civilized world I would have been thinking, ‘How could this happen? And Why me?’ I would have felt like some sort of pariah or loser, that the world and society had let me down, that some throwbacks had smashed through all the rules and targeted me. And I would have felt somehow to blame. I know I’d have wanted to dig myself a hole and pull the ground over me. ...It’s a different world now, a world without any rules, except maybe those of the jungle. There’s no law, no order, and because of that, I don’t seem to have that pariah-loser-victim feeling. And I don’t feel ashamed. I feel disgusted and sickened and violated, but I don’t feel ashamed. I feel hate and I want revenge, but I don’t feel a need to hide. A year ago I’d have felt scarred for life. Now I feel... as if I’ve been splattered with mud -- rotten, nasty mud – but nothing I can’t wash off and then move on.”

When vampires plan to take over the world, the first places they go are Jewish and Muslim communities where there are no crosses. Now a rabbi carries a cross around his neck for protection. A cross is like a blinding light to a vampire. Touching a cross burns their skin.

(p 144) The Rabbi is thinking about kosher foods and how he had to change to survive. “If he hadn’t changed, he couldn’t sit here and sup with these two men and this young woman. He’d have to be elsewhere, eating special classes of ritually prepared foods off separate sets of dishes. But really, hadn’t division been the main thrust of holding to the dietary laws in modern times? They served a purpose beyond mere observance of tradition. They placed another wall between observant Jews and outsiders, keeping them separate even from fellow Jews who didn’t observe. ... Time to break down all the walls between people... while there was still enough time and people left alive to make it matter.”

(p 188) “A steady stream of newcomers, anxious to join the fight, had been flowing to the church all morning. Many of them were not even Catholic. Jews, Protestants, even Muslims were showing up, wanting to know how they could be part of what was happening. ... The arbitrary walls that had separated people in the past had to be knocked down. There could be only one belief system now: the living versus the undead and those who sided with them.”

There was also something about the Catholic church. I don’t know if this is true, but the author wrote that priests used to be allowed to marry and have children. But as a result priests would give their accumulated wealth to their families when they died instead of to the church. Therefore the church changed the rules not allowing priests to marry.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 403 pages. Swearing language: strong including religious swear words. Sexual content: no specific scenes, but reference to a rape happening. Setting: near future east coast U.S. Copyright: 2004. Genre: apocalyptic paranormal fiction.

[Jason Thomas]

DNF 15 pages—the nun turned hooker/vampire slayer was too ridiculous for me.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Zeke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid story. Honestly it’s funny how timing worked out for me to read this book right after Salem’s Lot and it felt almost like a sequel to it too.

[Robert Reiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the SECOND time I was let down down a bit by a Wilson vampire novel. The first time was with The Keep. That book's first half is vampire perfection and the second half of the book takes a total different turn. Well Midnight Mass is much the same. The book is divided into Parts 1 & 2. Part 1 is solid. The first fifty pages or so are genuinely scary. Then near the end of part 1 the author kills off my favorite character. Not cool. Then part two begins and the whole feel of the book changes. It suddenly feels like a bad sci fi channel movie with horrible dialogue. I simply lost interest in the second half and unfortunately this won't fall in my top five vampire novels.

My top four in case you're wondering would probably comprise of:

Salems Lot
They Thirst
Dracula
Interview With A Vampire

Granted there are some classics I have yet to read so this list could change over time.

My recommendation is if you want good F. Paul Wilson stick to his Repairman Jack series.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warning: the PR team has been smart, pushing this one back into the spotlight again right after Midnight Mass came out on Netflix. Apart from sharing a title and main theme, this book has nothing to do with the series. Which doesn't mean you shouldn't read it.

While this was 400 pages long, I feel like I've been reading a novella and I have no idea why. The characters were well fleshed out, the plot gradually built up. *shrugs* I'm not complaining.

If it weren't for the rushed ending, I'd give it 4 stars. 3 stars now for good entertainment, a nice vampire lore point of view, especially considering this was first published in 1990.

The audiobook version has a pleasant narrator and is part of Audible's included collection for now.

[WendyB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know many made fun of the main characters being a rabbi, a priest, and a nun. But these people added an interesting religious twist to the vampire story. I thought this was a well-written book with perhaps a more realistic take on the vampire legend.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened on audiobook and I almost DNF’d. But I powered through and still didn’t love it. Didn’t really connect with any characters, and the story was just okay. I think this book proves I am over reading books by cishet white men. 🙃

[Kaisersoze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, this is awkward, but I somehow managed to read an abridged version of this book as part of a collection of novellas. I know this because it features only two of the characters discussed in the synopsis.

Sadly, I can only assume they were the two least exciting characters as their plight did little to move me, and given the end of this novella, it cannot be a prequel.

Anyway, yes, vampires. They're the threat in Midnight Mass, and at least they're of the nasty type. No sparkly ones to be found here. Unfortunately, other than this admirable fact, there's little to recommend this one over the hundreds of other such reads out there.

2 Men of God in it Together for Midnight Mass.

[Melinda Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea what this was about until I read it. I liked it but some parts were really odd. I hated the ending or it would’ve been 5*

[David Agranoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was young there were three authors I could also count on, that I considered my three favorite authors whose books I enjoyed over every one else. Those three were Clive Barker, Richard Matheson and Stephen King. As an adult my tastes have changed, the amount of authors I have read have expanded and within the last year I put F.Paul Wilson into my current top three(Today he is with John Shirley and Robert McCammon).

Midnight Mass is prime example of why Wilson is on my top three list. Compared to a lyrical artist like Barker - Wilson's no frills stripped down prose is perfect for me. Wilson is focused on the important stuff, story and characters. No one plots a novel or epic tale like Wilson, while this stand alone novel doesn't entirely showcase that strength as well as the Secret History of the World stories, this novel is perfectly plotted.

The greatest strength of Midnight Mass is the excellent characters and anyone who has read a Wilson novel knows none of those characters are safe. Wilson has knack for plot misdirection, often he will convince you a character is protagonist who you are prepared to join on this journey when they up a die, leaving you shocked 1/3 of the way through the book. That happened to me reading Midnight Mass, when a character I assumed was the hero gave up his life to save a friend. Wilson is tough on characters, and rarely is anyone safe. It adds tension to his books for sure.

Midnight Mass is a vampire apocalypse story, Wilson's long awaited take on the creatures (he tricked us in the Keep, making that novel seem like a vampire novel when it was something much darker) and it was worth the wait. This is not a rehash of I Am Legend but the water comes from the same well. In this novel Vampires have taken over Europe, India and the middle east. China and the U.S. Are fighting the rising tide. The east coast is under vampire control at night, human blood farms are growing along with a human resistance.

The two main characters are a disgraced priest who was falsely accused of child molestation just before the end times, a nun who secretly loved him and his best friend a rabbi. Add in the priest's militant vegan feminist niece and it sounds like you have a set up for a joke. No punch line here, just fantastic and interesting characters. Wilson develops them well, and tests their various faiths as the world ends around them.

This is far from my favorite Wilson novel, but that has more to do with the strength of his various other works. It is a great well thought out take on the Vampire mythos and a must read for fans of serious vampire novels.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of potential, but too many annoying factors slowly made me like this book less and less after a great start. The main characters were mostly unlikable, there were too many criticisms of faith/church for a plot that revolved around a priest protagonist and a nun that could combat vampires with spiritual objects, and the concept of devolution with a character turned by a 'feral' vampire was briefly hinted at but never developed. It wasn't a bad book, but I was expecting so much more from this author after he mentioned that he was going back to the roots of vampires and not taking the romantic route.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts of this were really good while other parts seemed a bit rushed. I would have liked to have had some more background on how the vampires became dominant in the old world, because they certainly didn't seem all that competent in the new. Still, it was an enjoyable read and the characters were interesting. I enjoyed it.

[Dan Banana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic VAMPIRE festival.
Death, destruction and more.
A Priest, a Rabbi and a lesbian walk in to a bar....is not a joke here it's the story and it's gory. Blood and rednecks. Quite a bit of action and mayhem.

[Emerson Toronto · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s definitely an interesting take on vampires - pretty graphic!
Reading this felt like the biggest build up to a climax that never came.
Ill stick to vampire smut

[Emmalynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ughhhh why? This was just a big no
Theresa ton of traumatic events happening to the main characters , yet, no change to show they affected the characters.
This had the potential of being great, except it landed with a dud.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️ that I won’t round up

CW: rape (off page but discussed), murder, violence, gore, hyper sexualisation of women, Islamaphobia, some kinda shady language around people of non-Christian faith.

I will start by saying that if you are wanting to read this because you loved Mike Flanagan’s excellent TV series, it is apparently not even related??? News to me!

Wilson brought an interesting view on the popular vampire plot which I was super intrigued by to begin with. They perish in sunlight and hate garlic and some can fly (!!) which all felt very cult classic-y. I even found the snarky reference to Anne Rice especially comical. He also tired to logically explain certain aspects of vampirism, especially those often exploited in popular media (vamps can’t boink because they don’t have blood flowing which defs makes sense). Unfortunately it did feel a bit “these young girls and their horny vampires - I’m so superior”. There were also some interesting elements discussing religion and why only Christianity (and it’s related symbols) impacted the vamps but it too felt very “I’m superior”. The inclusion of Judaism was nice although very one-dimensional. The straight up shitty Islamaphobia was (obviously) unnecessary and kinda gross.

The story itself… well, it was very light on both plot and character driven arcs. A lot of shit happened that that lead to other shit happening and so forth, but none of it felt like part of a wider, planned narrative. He also killed off a lot of characters. Which is fine so long as you’ve made people care for them or made their deaths meaningful but I don’t feel like he succeeded.

Did I enjoy this book? For the most part yes. It has the same energy as something like The Meg - it’s not very smart but damn was it entertaining (although this may be due to the narrator who was exceptional). But the shitty writing of women, the lack of BIPOC characters, the weird religion stuff, the treatment of the only gay character, and the blatant racism really ruined it (funny that). Do I recommend it? The audiobook yes, but only for the narrator (seriously he was delightful). The book itself? Nah, just go watch the show (which is again shockingly not based on this book at all) instead (despite the apparent lack of connection I’m truly wondering if some of the plot/character choices were intended to directly contradict the book being shitty - if so, I doff my cap to you sir).

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're as sick of floppy-haired vampire heartthrobs as I, read this book. Wilson's vampires are the repellent, bloodsucking bastards we've come to lovingly loathe. These vampires are more Dracula and Salem's Lot than Team Edward.

When the teenage girls of the world (and some of their moms) were dividing into Team Jason or Team Edward, I had already declared for Team Buffy. First of all, it's BUFFY. Second, I've always been more interested in the vampire hunters. Too often, the vampire geeks of the world seem like sad types with low self-esteem, the kind who, in more extreme cases, become serial killer groupies. Wilson takes some shots at Anne Rice novels and goth-type vampire-wannabes who find that getting what you want isn't always so great. (Not every victim gets turned; some just die horribly.) Also, Wilson has a lot of former investment bankers, politicians, and lawyers becoming vampires or the human weasels who help them, a touch that I liked.

In this book, the hunters have their work cut out. The vampires have taken over the entire eastern hemisphere and are well into their assault on the New World. The mortal world needs a savior, and he is Father Joe, a priest with a past. He is helped by his niece an atheist lesbian martial artist, a killer nun, and Zev the cross-wearing rabbi. There is an uncomfortable subtext involving Jewish-Christian relations, what with the efficacy of the cross against vampires and the mass death of Jews who refused the pragmatic step of wearing a cross. Wilson is careful to say that the power of the cross symbol might pre-date Christianity. He also has a Jewish hero and Christian villians (One of the main vampires is a pedophile priest.), and Wilson's main villians, religion-wise, are people who break ethical rules as opposed to theological ones. If there's a theological standpoint in the novel, it's that religious divisions and intolerance are dangerous.

In terms of the undead, Wilson doesn't break any new ground; his vampires are in the classic mode. They can't take sunlight or crosses. They're killed with the old-fashioned methods, sunlight, stakes, beheading, etc. In a lot of ways, this is a very retro vampire novel, but it's all the better for that. The strength of this book is in the quality of the writing, its stark atmosphere, and its kickassedness.