Behind closed doors, in a world of pretense, neurotic needs, and selfish desires, twisted perversions wish never to see the light. But, on occasion, the light finds them anyway and threatens to expose them to the day.

Karen Blanchard, like so many others hiding from the light, has her forbidden secret, a lustful secret she has convinced herself was inspired by God. When her sociopathic ex-husband, who is hell-bent upon destroying her name, discovers her illicit longings, by unwittingly forcing her to act upon them, she must pay the price, but not in the way he had planned.

Reborn as children of the night through the empathy of forces they’ve never known, Karen and her son become enslaved to unrelenting hungers, enslaved to blood, and her ex-husband becomes consumed by his own insanity.

Another unconventional take on vampires, Sins of Isis is a book for hardcore horror & dark fantasy enthusiasts. In a relatively short span of less than 200 pages, it covers an incredible breadth of pain, suffering, trauma, and eventually revenge. The author forces you to look beyond societal norms, pulls you into some deeply uncomfortable topics, and drowns you in gore. With each turn of the page, you find blood seeping into your fingers, and by the time you finish, the afterimage of serpents slithering along the walls is permanently etched into your mind.

There is a very thoughtfully written afterword at the end of the book, which I’d strongly suggest not skipping. It has a good explanation of the background and motivation for this work. Do not jump to preemptive judgments.

The central focus for the first half of the plot is the harrowing, tormented life of Karen Blanchard and her lustful longings for her son, which we discover while she is being horrifically coerced by strangers who enter her home pretending to be policemen. Much of it is in equal parts painful and repulsive, and yet it is impossible to not feel sympathy for our protagonist, who has been a victim in some way or the other throughout her life. The author’s depiction of the deeply flawed character is brilliant and deserves an applause.

At almost exactly the mid-point, the plot pivots sharply with the goddess Isis making a grand entrance, and roles of predator and prey dramatically flip. Some solid nerve-wrecking, bone-crunching action follows, and we are drawn into a whirlpool of violence.

I absolutely loved the gore-drenched action, the non-linear presentation, and depiction of Karen’s psyche. But beyond those, there were many subtle things that ensured that story settled into a permanent place in my heart. The brief glimpses into the perspective of the wicked churchman, the delusional self-justifications, the complications emerging from collateral damage were all wonderfully done.

The Constantine-esque ending was a bit of an unexpected surprise, but well…I’m not really complaining. It neatly concludes the events of the story, while also opening up some good potential for a sequel if the author decides to write one. I’ll be looking forward to exploring more works from Uilleam’s sprawling catalog of dark, dystopic creations.