Title: Vampiro Trilogy: Volume II: The Obsidian Knife
Author: Don W. Hill, M.D.
Publisher: BookWhip Company
ISBN: 195353757X
Pages: 326
Genre: Vampire / Horror
Reviewed by: Liz Konkel
Pacific Book Review
For this small community, the stories of vampires become a horrifying reality for the residents as blood-thirsty creatures return and set their eyes on the locals. Two men face changes in their lives after being infected by vampirism thanks to a dangerous Vampiro named Romero. Lorena is struggling with her employer’s recent infection that is slowly turning into what she fears most and with life on the run as she works to protect a young boy. Adding to her problems, she’s stolen a mysterious knife from Romero who will do whatever it takes to track her down and get it back.
The story presents a different approach to the concept of vampires, treating them as a predatory species with an introduction that sets up a comparison to a shark eating a fish. This perspective is carried throughout the story and is set against a modern background that brings life to the gritty tone. The darker elements are drawn from uses of blood, murder, and the dark touches of reality such as the cartel. The use of the tone and the modern setting creates a new way to view vampires while consistently maintaining blood imagery such as calling a severed hand ‘finger food’ and juggling a head. Specific language choices describe drinking blood with an elegant flair that almost waxes poetic such as partaking of thick liquid nutrients and comparing slashing through a crowd of violent men to the imagery of a choreographed dance.
The story revolves around four primary storylines, shifting between Lorena, Blake, Miguel, and Romero. Each of them gives a different exploration of vampirism through their experiences such as Blake who was an innocent resident that happened to become infected. His journey is rooted in his acceptance of his new reality as a vampire from his learning the rules, such as the effects that come from drinking hard liquor to the joy he begins to find in being this predatory species fighting and killing people. Miguel’s journey treats vampirism as an illness with him receiving care under Dr. Cloud with the perspective maintaining humanness within the story. Both of these characters face the same enemy which is Romero who revels in the violence and euphoria of what he is while serving as the catalyst for both Blake and Miguel in their vampiric journeys. How he’s portrayed as having a certain sophistication shows the way he harbors the power he has. These storylines balance Lorena’s journey as an au pair running from these dangerous characters with a journey that provides a human element which grounds the story in reality and provides intensity as she tries to protect a young male ward named, Nathan.
The plot draws together several threads between the characters, one being the obsidian knife which turns Lorena into a primary target for Romero considered it sacred. The knife has an intriguing position within the story as its evolution goes from the object Romero wishes to obtain and what draws him after Lorena to it being used to attack him. Also included are illustrations that have a hand-drawn aesthetic and are subtly featured at various points in the story. Each illustration has unique elements that capture everything from colorful cats to a line of rats. The style pairs well with the tone of the story with darker hues and shading that creates a visual that captures the grittiness of the tone. A unique perspective on vampires, Vampiro Trilogy: Volume II: The Obsidian Knife delivers a story with action, well-defined characters, a modern setting, dark humor, and themes that feature murder, blood, and violence.
