Nestled high atop a mountain range in his father's mansion, sexy, 'emo' vampire KELLAN DONNOLLY is living a life of carefree immortality. Born in 1003 in Ireland, to a peasant woman named Catherine, and the apostle SIMON, Kellan is bound by an ancient prophecy decreed by God, one that must be fulfilled or the entire vampire race will be destroyed. Simon, along with the other eleven apostles, were punished by Christ, forced to live as vampires by drinking Christ’s blood from the Holy Grail at the Last Supper for their roles of betrayal in his crucifixion. Now, Kellan must find a descendant of Christ, his niece in fact, and father a child with her to keep their species alive.
In New York City, spunky NICOLE ERWIN, a country girl from Coalmont, VA., and her friend, MIA ROUNDTREE, a sassy, outspoken, Chicagoan, work part-time at Harbor Way Orphanage, and soon discover working part-time in a big city, doesn't pay the bills. When Mia sees an ad in the paper offering two hundred dollars for blood donations taken by The National Bloodmobile, she presents the idea to Nicole, who reluctantly agrees to go for the extra cash, unaware her donation will change her destiny. While at the bloodmobile, Mia gets a date, and commits Nicole into accompanying her by setting her up with her date’s friend. Born with an ugly, scar shaped birthmark on her left wrist and raised by a cold, uncaring father, Nicole has acquired a defensive nature but decides to go on the date and soon learns finding Mr. Right is a lot harder than she thought.
After centuries of hiding for fear of detection, Kellan and the Apostles, lose track of The Daughter of Christ. In the twentieth century, the Apostles resurfaced and formed The National Blood Association, establishing blood banks all over the globe to live among humans undetected and to renew their search for The Daughter.
When the time of the prophecy is at hand, The Daughter's identity is still unknown. The Apostles become concerned with Kellan's lack of interest in finding her, and Simon reveals to Kellan a secret he's kept hidden for over twenty years. In 1986, when a new form of technology DNA extraction, was unveiled The Apostles utilized its potential. They enlisted the aid of WINSTON DEFRIES, a smart, arrogant, biotechnology scientist who was the first man to extract and successfully match DNA to an individual. To keep Winston in the dark of their intentions JOHN THE APOSTLE, approached him and offered a job with The National Blood Association, under the ruse of finding a cure for HIV by testing blood donations taken from their blood banks and linking a genetic protein found in uninfected donors. Little does Winston know his quest will help an ancient sect of vampires locate the savior of their race.
When The Apostles learn The Daughter of Christ's lineage is in New York City, it is up to Kellan to win her trust, while The Apostles try to keep Lucifer's demon scout, ARIUS, from destroying her. Kellan finds Nicole and reluctantly pursues her, expecting to fulfill the prophecy and return to his life of immortal luxury. To his amazement, he discovers Nicole means more to him than just the salvation of his people and together, they embark on an adventure full of suspense and drama, with an unexpected 'Savior' who will aid Kellan and The Apostles on their journey for survival.
Melanie’s Review
Wow. The Vitandi totally blew me away. What a great book! I enjoyed every minute! When I was at around ¾ of the way finished, I absolutely couldn’t put it down. I just could not wait to see what was going to happen!
Denver Batiste took two of my very favorite things, vampires and religion and smooshed them into something unique and special for me to love. I can really appreciate the amount of work and research that went into writing The Vitandi to make it as plausible as possible in a fictional world.
The Vitandi is a very nicely written, interesting, and unique story about vampires and the 12 Apostles of Jesus. They are trying to fulfill a prophecy to save their souls. We are introduced to several of the Apostles, while some of them are more background characters. There is also the appropriate amount of villains and suspense. Author Denver Batiste gives the reader a lot of information, from how to fulfill the prophecy, why there is a prophecy, and who is involved. There is love, and angst, as well as good vs evil in a crazy climax where the faith of the Vitandi face the ultimate test.
One of the things I really enjoyed about The Vitandi is the unique approach to the Vampire myth. I’ve heard of other myths linking the first Vampires to other biblical characters, but for me, this is the first I’ve heard of one declaring the most faithful of Jesus’s followers as vampires. We are given a glimpse into the world of faith and how things work as far as that goes. I have a weird fascination (obsession) with all things religion, so this book was a real treat for me, having two of my favorite things, Vampires and Religion!
In addition to the 12 Apostles being vampires, Batiste also reconstructed the methods by which someone actually becomes a vampire, as well as their “symptoms.” I love the creativity of this author and I really look forward to reading more.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good, in depth, vampire story that combined with religion in one of the best ways possible.
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