Vampires in Zion?

Not that Zion, the national park. Having finished C. David Belt's book The Unwilling, I thought, hey, if there are vampires running around Utah in the north, they might be Hunting down in southern Utah as well.

But, even thought I kept a keen eye on the passersby, none seemed to be of vampiric ilk. There were incredible trails, stunning scenery and some serious physical exertion involved in my research into Zion's possible blood sucking population. Not even a mosquito. Just as well.

I did enjoy The Unwilling. Belt's vampires were more realistic than many recent renditions of the type. I found his characters heroic, horrible, flawed, murderous, compassionate (a vampire?) and endowed with personality. I was pleasantly shocked that Belt had...(nope, not gonna say that, it would give away too much of the story)

I found his treatment of a vampire in Utah in conjunction with the predominant religion in the state complex and intriguing, though at times references to certain church-specific ideas tended to set The Unwilling as LDS fiction. He handled the conflict between being a good vampire and a good Mormon with dexterity and aplomb, especially when he...(again, don't want to spoil the story for future readers, but I think you will find it intriguing).

I don't know if Belt is a former military pilot, but if not, he did some extensive research into military flying and it thunders through his writing. The Unwilling was a sad, exciting, romantic, energetic, intrigue-filled fun flight of fantasy into the experience of an unwilling vampire's adventures. The only one in six-thousand years.

 

Almost forgot, although I didn't detect any vampires in Zion, there are plenty of places for them to hide during the day, and the squirrels might just be taste testers for them. No, I didn't find out firsthand, but if you go to the park, don't let your children touch the furry little rodents.