In this novel, an author discovers the forgotten vampire goddess who created humanity.

Brigette Monroe, the granddaughter of Marilyn Monroe and the star reporter for a Hollywood tabloid, has been assigned to go to Texas to cover the story of a man who claims to be a real vampire. Melvin, a wealthy, older author, says that, while he doesn’t drink blood or turn into a bat, he has unlocked the secret to immortality. Brigette happens to be a vampire as well, using sex to suck the life out of unsuspecting lovers. In fact, several people who work at the tabloid are vampires. Melvin has recently found out that God has a wife, the Goddess Shekhinah, who is the real creator of humankind. On the morning after Brigette and her film crew’s arrival, Melvin experiences a demonic episode and ends up with tattoos all over his body. As Melvin gets more and more insights into the real history of the universe—insights that he reveals to Brigette and her crew in the form of lectures—the world’s original religion comes into greater focus. In between the chapters, Melvin’s poems on vampirism and other subjects serve as interstitials. Abercrombie delivers an imaginative premise with rich, thought-provoking details about Shekhinah and theology. The ambitious book’s format is an idiosyncratic one, and not only because the main character has the same name as the author (and has written the author’s other books). The story is told as if it were being pitched for the screen, with camera directions given at the beginning of each chapter. These are made more confusing by the fact that there is a camera crew in the tale as well. Due to these metafictional layers (as well as the frequent text errors), the prose is often difficult to read: “Ocean front mansion, walking on the beach, the sexy voice continues’ His wife, Kay, loves to walk with them on the beach she has her shorts on, loose blouse and towel around her waist, big straw hat and sunglasses and camera zooms in on all of them including brigitte wearing her little bitty bikini.” Much of the book is simply the content of Melvin’s lectures, which are dry and do not advance the plot. The fact that nearly all of the characters are vampires (sometimes spelled vampyres) adds further murkiness to the mix.

An intriguing but messy vampire tale.