Blood Prophecy

BLOOD PROPHECY, Stefan Petrucha, Grand Central, $7.99, 368 pages, ISBN: 9780446555999, reviewed by Barry Hunter.

Several years ago, White Wolf was publishing some excellent fiction to go along with and put emphasis on the back story to their games. Petrucha was one of those writers who stood out with his tales set in the Ottoman Empire. Herein he returns to the era with a new tale of historical interest and an interesting cast of characters.

Jeremiah Fall is a captive of the French in Egypt in 1799 and holds a secret that he will not relate to them until they tell him the date. He has been held so long that he has no idea of what has happened since his capture. As he tells his story he starts in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1644 when his farming family disturbs a mound and looses the creature that eventually curses him with a long life and strange desires. Fall is nursed by Indians until he can control his urges and becomes a soldier of fortune that seemingly can’t die.

In 1798, Fall is in Egypt and ends up in a group of prisoners sent out to find the great black stone. It is something Fall has been hoping to find for a long time. The stone is found at Rosetta and it creates an interest that spreads to the capitals of Europe. Even Napoleon has an express interest in the stone.

Adventure and action are aplenty in this tale of Fall and his search for his maker and the secret of the stone which he can not reveal to anyone. The trail goes from Egypt, France, and ends up at the Garden of Eden.

Petrucha has written a historical paranormal, if you will, that has the action and the interesting characters to help you move the pages as fast as you can turn them.