When a medieval artifact is the source of modern trouble, we get a rare look into the life of Nick Knight before he was a vampire.
For a guy who lives by the letter of the law, Nick has no problem throwing out the lawbook for this one. That harp is the only relic from his life as a human, and he'll do just about anything for it.
But Nick's life isn't the only one affected by the harp. Apparently a curse follows it around. A wicked man spilled blood over the harp in the 13th century, and the men in his family always die at age 55. One of them has had enough and is just as committed as Nick to getting his hands on the harp so he can end the curse. This is the longest chapter of Nick's life, and it's finally coming to a close.
Flashbacks:
Nick's a crusader. In... Ireland? Don't get me started on how little sense any of this makes. No crusaders from France were cruising around Ireland in the 13th century converting people to Christianity. By that time Ireland hadn't had any pagans for many centuries.
But this is the tension people love to use in stories. Christians persecuting pagans is an irresistable setting for writers, but it has never, ever, ever shown up in a movie, book, or TV show with an iota of historical accuracy. They get it wrong every time.
Little Bites:
-The harpist appears to throw the harp into about three inches of water in order to hide it. I am not sure why she bothered, and I'm not sure how a wooden harp survived being submerged for long. Wood doesn't tend to survive many centuries anyway.
-Nick could have saved himself a lot of trouble by telling Schanke he was representing someone else at the auction and continued bidding. Or if he hadn't allowed his competitor to spend time on the phone. If he really wanted it, there was no reason to play nice.
-It's remarkable that Schanke can't print out something on his computer and needs Nick's help. Is there no one else at the department who can use the new software? Really?
-Natalie checks the dead body for fang marks. She doesn't trust Nick on this one.
-800 years is a long time. Even though it's nice to give the harp to a museum, maybe it should be destroyed so this one dude's lineage doesn't all die at 55 forever. Just seems unfair.
-Other than the flashbacks of his conversion, this is the only time we see Nick before he was a vampire.
Final Analysis: I want to enjoy this historical adventure, but the flashbacks are maddeningly wrong. 3 out of 5 missing French accents.
Adam D. Jones is a writer, historian, and undefeated cat wrestler. His knowledge of the middle ages is the reason no one ever sits by him at lunch.
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