The Keep (original 1981; edition 1992)

Rating: 4 of 5

Status updates -

3/19/2012, page 248: This is my first time reading F. Paul Wilson; it's page-turner.

3/30/2012, page 347: Enjoyable on many levels. Review to come. ( )

A tense read throughout. ( )

I've actually read this book before, but it still counts towards my 100 New Books goal because I didn't remember that I had read it until about a chapter or two in.

The premise is great: Nazis move into a keep in Romania and start dying one-by-one at the hands of what can only be described as a vampire. Nazis, vampire, and even zombies near the end. Great stuff for someone like me.

For the first 3/4 of the book, it's positively thrilling. It's creepy. It's atmospheric. But it falls apart near the end as the truth of what the mysterious hero Glenn really is, and his connection to the vampire in the keep. It becomes a story about ancient warring powers and demigods and nonsense with no leadup, suddenly shifting gears from horror to fantasy. Molasar, the vampire, is actually Rasalom the warlock from prehistory, and Glenn is actually Glaeken with a magic sword from that time too. It becomes too cartoonish. The villain was more threatening when he was an inhuman beast with no backstory other than the subtle hints of his relation to Dracula. Even the premise, promised on the back of the novel "Nazis vs a Vampire" falls apart as Glaeken takes the center stage and all of this ancient prehistory nonsense kicks in. The interesting characters, Kaempferr and Woermann are killed off and the center stage is left for the less interesting ones: the aforementioned Glenn, Magda (who inexplicably falls in love with Glenn on first sight, which is something the author enjoys reminding us of every third page), and her father.

I recommend this book only because of the first three quarters. They're just that entertaining that they make the last bit bearable. Supposedly, this is the first book of a series. Maybe reading the rest of it will improve the ending of this book. ( )

The Nazis have come to Romania. In this novel, the first of the Adversary Cycle by F. Paul Wilson, A group of Nazis have taken over a keep in the mountains of Romania. One of the Nazis believes that there is treasure hidden somewhere in the Keep, so he begins to look for it. He tampers with a cross that is imbedded in the wall and unwittingly releases an ancient evil that begins killing the Nazis One By One. A second group of Nazis is brought in to figure out why. When they begin getting murdered, a Jewish scholar and his daughter are brought to the Keep. Finally, a stranger named Glenn arrives and the powder keg of differing ideals and murder is ignited to a stunning conclusion. Eventually the battle within the Keep is boiled down to two sides: the side of order and the side of chaos.
This book is interesting. It not only has historic elements, it also verges into the realm of Lovecraftian horror and Science Fiction. Every character is well drawn out has a distinct personality with unique foibles, and the action is well written and engaging enough to keep you interested. ( )

The first third of this book is great. The rest, not so much.

Wilson does a great job building a sense of dread and claustrophobia as the Germans first reach Dinu Pass and enter the keep, and the plot moves along quickly.

Then he introduces Glenn and Professor Cuza & his daughter, and the pace slows to crawl. The professor and his daughter are cardboard cut-out characters. With Glenn, we have a character all too common in genre fiction--the character that the author thinks is AWESOME and just can't get enough of describing all the ways in which he's great.

Then Wilson introduces the villain in person, and the whole thing falls apart. From there on, it's a lot of forced inner dialog and a love story that is straight out of a romance novel. By the end, I found myself skimming whole pages because I just didn't care.

The only reason I'm giving this book two stars instead of one is the first third, which is good, pulpy fun. ( )