A Vampire Lawyer Novel For Halloween: Vampire Esquire, by Michael Wells, Jr.

October 31, 2014

As far as I can tell, there has never been a book about a vampire lawyer. In Dracula, Jonathan Harker was a solicitor while “lawyer” was one of the many hats that Abraham Van Helsing wore. But both of these men were vampire hunters, not vampires themselves. I’m also not aware of a vampire laywer on film, unless you count this recent “Funny or Die” clip with Chris Pine. There apparently is a case of a real-world vampire lawyer, but the less said about that the better.

Returning to the realm of the fictional, Michael Wells, Jr., a partner at Wells Liipfert, PLLC (and the author of the blogs Southern Lawyer NC and Vampire Esquire), has written the vampire novel, Vampire Esquire. The book is copyrighted, and Wells plans to submit it to publishers soon. I asked Wells, who tweets at @slnc01, two questions about the book, and here are his responses:

1. What led you to write a book about a vampire lawyer?

I always enjoyed creative writing, and I wanted to write a novel. I have published articles and stories but never a novel. Stephen King and John Grisham are two of my favorite writers so I thought I would combine elements of each. One of my favorite archetypes in literature is the vampire because it is both the antithesis of human existence in that it is undead and human at the same time because it retains vestiges of humanity. I also thought I could use vampires to point out problems with our political system because my book is largely about the destructive force of big money in politics. Likewise, the book equates vampirism with destroying government programs meant to help those down on their luck. I also enjoyed creating vampire hunters based on Stoker’s Van Helsing and Roland Deschain from Stephen King’s the Dark Tower Series. My main character is 2,000 years old, a good vampire, a lawyer and a former Roman Senator. There should be something in the book for everyone.

2. What is the book’s plot?

Pierre Leblanc the “vampire esquire” is a 2,000 year old vampire turned during the ‘Great Fire of Rome’ in 64 AD. He is wrest away from his loving Roman wife and great life as a successful lawyer and his career as a Roman Senator. He later escapes his maker. He lives in Europe for hundreds of years until he finally makes it to the United States and eventually to Chicago. A vampire billionaire, named Vladimir Lenin, wants to take over the United States through his Parisian company, Nero Corporation, where he attempts to buy the Presidential election and Congressional elections. He manages to buy off Congress and gets them to dismantle government programs, Medicaid in particular, thereby creating a critical mass of people off the grid to make into vampires. The President stays in power and is the check to the tyrannical Congress.

Pierre along with vampire hunters William Magnum (grisly vampire hunter), Roland Walker (disgraced Iraqi war vet in search of redemption) and the President, who is also a vampire hunter, are aided by the Society of the Silver Stake (a secret vampire hunting society). A vampire v. human war ensues. Humans win. In a last ditch effort, vampires enter the White House to kill the President, but they are thwarted by the vampire hunters, the Society and Pierre Leblanc. The plan fails. Lenin is revealed to be Leblanc’s maker, and Leblanc kills Lenin.

One key member of Lenin’s progeny escapes setting up the sequel.