Past Sins

Rating:
Summary: Past Sins- A Great Twist On the Vampire Tale
Review: "Write what you know," is the mantra of countless creative writing instructors. Don Ecker has taken this advice to heart. Mr. Ecker's background as a cop, special ops member in Viet Nam and researcher of all things strange for UFO Magazine, one of the top publications of its kind, has well prepared him for his debut novel.

Past Sins is a multi-layered pager turner for several reasons. Mr. Ecker's portrayal of elite soldiers and weary cops has the authenticity that comes from someone who understands both the hardware and the unique cultures, the way only an insider could. There are no cardboard super sleuths or indestructible Rambos to be found. Set in contemporary Los Angeles, the story is populated by characters the reader comes to care about, people that doubt, bleed and sometimes die.

What Past Sins shares with many classic stories we remember long after the last page has been turned is an underlying allegory. This story suggests the sins of an individual or a government may return to haunt the sinner. Mr. Ecker has chosen a timely theme indeed. Our government's marriage of convenience to flesh and blood monsters, from Nazis to dictators to drug lords and terrorists is a matter of historical record. The results of some of those unholy couplings are painfully obvious to even the most casual observer of current events.


This bitter little pill is wrapped in a sweet, action-rich vampire vs. cop/soldier thriller that leaves you unsure of the outcome until the last page.

I can hardly wait to see what Mr. Ecker comes up with next.

Robb Leach is a Sergeant/Supervisor with the Maywood, California Police Department, and is a prolific free-lance writer in his spare time.





Rating:
Summary: A scary tale of Black Ops, tough cops, and vampires!
Review: Past Sins is a superb scary tale of black ops, tough cops, and vampires, but is also much more than that. Past Sins is a scary book that gave me nightmares galore as I plowed through it compulsively. It is a page-turner, but for me one I could not read at night, and I don't even believe in vampires! It delves deeply into the folklore and history surrounding vampirism, and blends this seamlessly in the story line, but it is also a portrait of good and evil, evil of the vilest kind, and this is found not only in the undead. In this novel it is debatable who was more evil and ruthless, the vampires, or those who tried to wield them as a weapon.

Past Sins is an allegory in addition to being a horrifying page-turner: it is fable for our time, because the title refers not to the sins of the undead but those of our own government. The premise, that the US government, in absolute secrecy, discovered and employed a vampire during the Cold War, is chillingly reminiscent of the historical record, were the US intelligence community showed itself willing to employ former nazis, Mafiosi, assorted homicidal despots, Ussama Bin Laden , reportedly little gray aliens , and finally even the French. The noble end of defeating Communism supposedly justified all of these "means." But as the US has learned painfully, the devils you support and employ you ultimately cannot control. In Past Sins , all hell literally breaks loose.

However, Past Sins functions not just as a horrifying tale, and not just as an allegory, but also as a vivid story with engaging characters. Don Ecker's fertile imagination has produced a wide cast of veteran soldiers, nervous Intel operatives, and hard-boiled cops all woven together in the cosmos that is LA. I was especially smitten by his portrait of the LA police, who deal with such horror and danger daily that even the appearance of vampirism barely provokes raised eyebrows among them. As one reads the book , one is soon involved with the characters and swept up in the wild train ride that finally ends with a shattering conclusion. For the US government, once fully aware that its horrid secret weapon has escaped, pulls out all stops to try to contain the evil is has unwittingly unleashed. I say : read this book!