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The Vampire Lestat meets The Matrix is this post-apocalyptic vampire tale.

Tynan Llywelyn is a vampire who has been banished and ostracized by his own in Eternal Vigilance. Deeply depressed and fed up with unlife and the world, Tynan casts a spell and places himself into a long hibernation. Something happens that awakens him after his first century of sleep, confusing him as to why he has awakened, then confusing him more as he sees the remnants of the world he left behind. The Tyst are now in charge of this post-apocalyptic world yet their current reign of power over the population and their battle against the rebellious Phuree has driven the Tyst to seek more power. They plan to raise what they believe to be an ancient vampire god.

The vampires try to bargain with the angry Tynan, some of them trying to re- earn his respect and show fealty to the being that once was considered the messiah of the vampires before he was ousted and considered unstable and a traitor. As can be expected, someone doesn’t always want to really become an ally again, attempting to force Tynan to combine forces with The Phuree in an attempt to stop the Tyst.

Tynan resists, at first, but then Nahalo, an oracle and a being more ancient and powerful than he has ever encountered takes Tynan under his wing as much as Tynan will allow, claiming he is the one. Tynan still puts no trust into anyone, but Nahalo is about as close of an ally as he has besides Jasmine. Unfortunately, the first person they team the vampire up with is a traitorous and dangerous man known as Malakai. This isn’t like the buddy books/films where the two simply don’t see the world the same and disagree. These two would happily kill one another if they weren’t both necessary to the plan for overthrowing the Tyst.

This is the first book of a planned trilogy that Austin author Gabrielle Faust has planned for this series. Eternal Vigilance 2: The Death of Illusions is actually available (a review of it will be coming soon), but why start you out in the middle of a series when I can introduce you to this deadly beginning?

Faust’s story is a bit The Vampire Lestat meets The Matrix with maybe a touch of Underworld as Tynan comes across as an amalgamation of Lestat and Neo, although; thankfully, he has a better vocabulary than Neo and despite being depressed and cynical he doesn’t whine and cry about being a vampire in a sissified manner.

I’m not quite sure why Faust made the lead character and the evil regime have such similar names. She has written her first novel in such a manner to keep the two from becoming easily confused. She also likes the words “electric,” “shock,” “lightning” and about any word synonymous with those three, but there are times that some of her writing is extremely poetic within the prose, as if Faust has been studying Shakespeare and applying his style to Tynan’s thoughts, which works well for the character.

Faust has also gone back to some of the standard rules in vampire mythology. Although she has yet to mention a cross or religion, the vampires still can’t function during the daylight hours, they have super-strength and speed, they can read minds and entrance their victims-to-be.

Eternal Vigilance is an entertaining read that will leave you (blood) lusting for the sequels. You can find her book on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, etc. but I recommend going to her site. Not only are her books available but Faust is a one-woman publicity machine with blogs, vampire & goth items for sale and a lot of giveaways on a monthly basis. Her site is place that almost any vampire or goth enthusiast will enjoy.

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