Templar's Folly Blurb
A detective bound by duty. A psychic caught in a vampire war. A love that defies fate.
After surviving a harrowing exorcism, newly anointed Templar Malachi Monroe is ordered to protect Valerie Delacroix from a deadly vampire stalker. But as their connection deepens, Malachi discovers Valerie is more than she seems, and so is the war brewing around them. With the supernatural world closing in, Malachi must choose: follow orders, or risk everything for love.
Templar's Folly Blurb
A detective bound by duty. A psychic caught in a vampire war. A love that defies fate.
After surviving a harrowing exorcism, newly anointed Templar Malachi Monroe is ordered to protect Valerie Delacroix from a deadly vampire stalker. But as their connection deepens, Malachi discovers Valerie is more than she seems, and so is the war brewing around them. With the supernatural world closing in, Malachi must choose: follow orders, or risk everything for love.
“God will not interfere with the dignity of a human’s free will. Instead, He chooses those who choose Him. The act of faith grows into true dignity for a Templar of God. A grace that calls one to fulfillment in this life and the next.”
Lavaitus
Hallucinating at night was often misunderstood. But not by me. As a psychic officer, visions were part of the job. The Hawaiian night air was hauntingly humid. My breath came in shallow staggers. Still, I commanded deeper breaths. The heat created beads of sweat on my forehead in response. I was deep in meditation. My energy was flowing, demanding focus on my chakras from head to toe, or toe to head as some would say.
Detached from any sense of reality other than the spiritual.
The material world simply did not matter.
My visions began with a beautiful foreign woman, graced with lush, creamy skin, dark hair and a wide smile. She was hovering above a distant blue planet. The landscapes were off, but the color and clouds did resemble Earth. Her smile brightened at my recognition and she began her advance towards me. A seductive sway came from her hips as she approached. She levitated in swirls, eyes beckoning with fluttering eyelashes.
Swimming towards a knowing union.
My body moved toward her instinctively, arms outstretched for an embrace. The princess accepted, diving into my chest. On impact, I began to float backward, deeper into space, drifting slowly into orbit around a nearby orange planet.
“I love you.” she whispered, forming her body into my own.
I answered with a kiss to her parted red lips.
She studied me with cool, foreign eyes. Eyes that seemed to drink me in. An intense reminder of all the years that I’ve been deep meditating without receiving visions this vivid before.
As if a whole new world was unlocked simply by witnessing this beautiful girl.
The bliss made my heart ache. I didn’t know if I could continue the meditation. Waves of feel-good hormones made my chest gurgle and churn. The overload was taking my breath away.
It felt like making love for the first time.
Complete ecstasy.
I rode the ecstatic wave. Surfing the many images while sticking to the mantra. She would scan me up and down with a mouth agape.
Another stomach gurgle came.
My deep meditation would have to end, but I wanted more of a revelation from such a divine creature. Pacing was key in this industry. That's what Lavaitus Corp preached all the time. I took the training with a grain of salt and continued with my prayer, watching as the woman traced her fingers along mine, while twirling into a lower embrace.
I’ll never forget those striking, dark, foreign eyes staring into my soul. The goddess pressed her body against mine and we kissed again, her teeth as bright as the sky.
My breath came in gasps. I wanted to know everything about this woman, but far off in reality, my phone began to ring. It was a stereotypical stock cellphone ring that was invading my dream.
Distracting and unwelcomed.
The image of the woman nodded at the sound of it, and put her hand by her ear as if mimicking a phone being answered.
Every ounce of my being wanted to continue my deep meditation. I didn’t want the vision to end, but she shook her head.
“Answer it.” She insisted.
My head swam, and my eyes fluttered open. I was greeted by my cozy, if cluttered, bedroom. Still dazed from the trance, I reached for the cell phone on the nightstand.
For a moment, I forgot who I was. What was my name? My social security number? Who was I?
I second-guessed my surroundings. The lamp glowed beside me, illuminating the nightstand: journals, pens, medication... and a perfectly poured glass of scotch.
I recognized these contents, but the phone number calling was unknown. It was a local number. Hawaiian.
The clock read 11:30. Calling this late in the night would mean business. All my mainland contacts were likely sleeping.
Still dazed, I grabbed my journal and a pen, then hesitated, reaching instead for the glass of scotch. The golden elixir felt like a necessity, reviving me into someone I recognized. Anything to prepare for what was coming.
“Hello?” I answered, managing a breath.
“Hello?” A husky feminine voice called back.
A tantalizing response, even if it sounded frightened.
“Is this Malachi Monroe?” The voice sounded again.
I opened up my journal and began scribbling the date. I created guidelines for the notes with my pen. Name, date, topic and such. I knew this could be an important mission, or be an unattractive blemish for my upcoming trial to become Templar.
“The legendary Malachi Monroe, yes. And you are?” I replied back with an authoritative teasing tone. I went back to my scotch and took a sip. Trying hard not to make a sound while on the phone. The wind outside my louvered windows cried softly.
“My name is Daniella Green. A former client told me about your work on Anini Beach. She said you and your uncle protected Princeville from a zombie outbreak, and that with your help, the damage was minimal,” Daniella said.
My hand tightened around the glass of scotch. Anini Beach rose in perfect memory, the calling of roosters, sounds of the tides, and even sunsets that seemed to paint its own language still spoke to me. I had camped there for six months during the investigation. A supernatural drug that turns people into zombies smuggled through the underground, a web of lies, and at least a dozen of those horrid monsters were produced. My uncle Leon and I stopped the cannibals with wit and force.
“You must be talking about Miss Elizabeth then?” I remarked. “She loves to exaggerate. My powers are limited, but I’ll do the best I can. Have you spoken to a priest already? Or any other psychic, mystic, Templar?”
“I need your Templar expertise!” Daniella commanded. She cleared her throat, the silence although short seemed to drag on as I fumbled for a response.
Templars were revered and reviled by all. It is said that you will be hated for Jesus’ name, and that was true. The power of a Templar from Lavaitus Corp was unparalleled however. They were the protectors from the supernatural and the public were just slowly getting used with the idea of another small secret agent branch.
“I’m no Templar yet, my trial isn’t for another three months, but please tell me more about your circumstances?” I asked.
“You’re no Templar yet, is the key word. I have a job that should get you promoted in no time. Are you interested in changing the world….or at least in earning a decent dollar?”
I instinctively went for my glass of scotch again and mulled over my current stipend paychecks. The worship of money was evil, but money itself wasn’t. A tad bit more financial freedom would be ideal. Still, there was a creeping feeling of distaste in the room. A sort of sin that demanded attention.
“What did you have in mind?” I inquired, with a sip from my drink to follow.
She didn’t say anything.
The silence brought the evil taint further from the recesses of my carpet. I paused, focusing on my breath to increase awareness. Lights in my room flickered briefly in response. The air felt heavy and poisonous all of sudden.
“An exorcism.” Daniella spoke finally.
A sinister low hum of inhuman gibberish came whistling in the depths of my mind. The sound was unmistakable and worse, it was in my room.
A demon was hiding here.
In my room.
My pen immediately made a note of it in my journal.
“Demonic Encounter.”
My skin bristled as I wrote to confirm the agonizing fright. This was a demon. An enemy of God manifesting itself on this ground. I could hear its haunting laughs that shook the room. As if it read my thoughts and loving its recognition.
The booming laughter terrified me. Yet, I knew the demon was even more scared of me. It was their poker face to the best of my knowledge. A bluff. I was meant to be on this phone call.
The demon fear came next with its loud knocks.
This conversation would have to end soon.
Besides, wouldn’t I get the Templar position no matter what? This could jeopardize my career if I failed. I couldn’t afford another hospitalization at the moment. I’ve been in the line of duty for over eight years. I’m in my thirties. My resume was incredible. Did I really want to change my review over some stupid job that could cost me my life?
No worse, my soul.
I wondered if the demon in my room was the same at her house? I ignored the thought and said a silent prayer instead.
“H-hello?”
“Yes, Miss Daniella.” I answered. The demon and I returned stares. Its red eyes were bright and angry. I knew I had to end this phone call soon no matter what the girl in the vision said.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to talk in the morning.” I finally spoke. “Witching hour. Spooks and all. I understand this can be difficult during this time for you. I sense that this is urgent, so let’s meet at the old coffee shop at Lihue mall tomorrow at 10:30 AM. Does that work for you?”
I began scribbling an interview appointment note into my journal.
“This house is so frightening, but yes. That sounds lovely. I want you prepared after all. I’m not a normal client. I’ll have many more jobs for you in the future.”
I finished writing my notes.
“Hang in there,” I replied. “These nasty foes are always temporary. Just a trial and nothing more. I’ll either get to the bottom of this as soon as I can or find recommendations for someone for the job if I can’t do it. We’ll talk more tomorrow morning.”
My eyes drifted to the demon. Its fiendish face nodded in agreement, long tongue licking its lips. The act sickened me. I, a weapon of God, was in need of a demon’s blessing?
Why do I always shudder in fear at a demon’s encounter?
No sympathy for the devil was my rule. Yet, I was shaking, fiddling nervously with my pen.
“I hope you can be the one who can save my family.” Daniella choked slightly with a slight cry.
“I do too.” I replied. Ignoring the creature I look towards my empty glass. The glass seemed to beckon for more, but I knew it was time to stop, I needed my sleep. My medication was just beside it. My only rule was that I can’t drink anymore after I take the meds and I needed an out.
An evac to the supernatural.
“Goodnight, Daniella.”
“Goodnight.”
The phone call ended. The demon burst into a sulfuric vapor, bubbling and hissing as it faded into the wall. I sat in silence for a moment, letting the stillness return before I set my phone down.
My notes were clean. There was the person, place and entity recorded for our arranged meeting written down on paper. More journal entries and typing were required, but that would have to wait for the morning.
I needed rest.
My medication came into play next. Robotically screwing off the lids to each container slowly and counting the pills. As usual the colors and shapes were right. After camping for so long I never used a mediset anymore, but I was religious about my medication, reaching for the water bottle and completing the night time ritual with a swallow.
“Perfect nightcap.” I said to myself, putting the drink of water back in its rightful messy spot. Then the beautiful Asian girl from the deep meditation came back into my view from my mind’s focus. As if we never skipped a beat.
“Now, where were we?”
Templar’s Folly by Luke DeSalvo is set on the lush island of Kauai, an exotic location steeped in Hawaiian mythology and lore, and the author crafts an intriguing, fresh paranormal story by introducing a powerful vampiric adversary straight out of Eastern European folklore. Malachi Monroe, a newly appointed Templar living on the island of Kauai, is tasked with eliminating a vampire who is stalking the daughter of a recent client, only to discover the vampire has a more serious motive than looking for his next meal. Dominic, the almost 500-year-old vampire, needs help killing his creator, an ancient vampire who is slumbering now but will soon awake to destroy humanity and the world, starting right there on Kauai, where he has been secretly hidden. Dominic needs Valerie, a young witch with unique psychic abilities, to help open a pathway to the underworld before Orion, his former mentor, awakens and Malachi’s abilities as a Templar to destroy him once found. But first, all three must come to trust each other before anything good can come from their alliance.
I loved the premise of this book and really wanted to love the execution as well, and while promising, this work needs more refining before reaching its potential. Malachi Monroe is an engaging main character, and several nice storylines support the plot; however, I felt like I was dropped into the middle of the book, with insufficient development of Malachi’s backstory or the world of the Templars. There are tidbits of information throughout, some even repeated, that help establish both, but the whole Lavaitus Corporation remains vague to me. Were the Templars in the story a modern branch of THE Templars? I liked the chapter epigraphs relating to Lavaitus’s policies, which provided additional insights. Valerie’s presence in the story is more defined, but I still had questions about her being a witch, a ghost hunter, a psychic, and her abilities.
The relationship between Malachi and Valerie is foretold from both their perspectives, so their meeting and immediate attraction were understandable; however, their instant declarations of love still felt premature. The feeling of rushing may be a product of the dialogue. Much of it came off as unnatural and disjointed, filling space rather than providing motive and direction.
The underlying plot is intriguing, and the fight sequences are vivid and exciting. Malachi could be a compelling protagonist if his traits were better established. He presents, initially, as engaging, lovable, and somewhat goofy, but he’s later described as classy, which doesn’t show up in his interactions with other characters. Lastly, the book still contains way too many execution errors, such as incorrect word choices, misspellings, typos, repetitive passages, inconsistencies in character names, and continuity issues. These are all the types of things that confuse a reader and interrupt the flow of the story that another pass by an editor can fix.
The bottom line, though, is that despite my quibbles, I enjoyed the story and would share this title, with my reservations noted, with friends and family who like this genre, especially those who like stories set in Hawaii.