Dracula the Un-Dead

August 24, 2009
In this sequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula
, his great-grandnephew offers one of the rowdiest revisionist treatments of the most influential vampire novel ever written. In 1912, as Stoker labors to adapt Dracula
for the stage, its “characters” are dying gruesomely all over London. It turns out they are as real as Stoker himself, who learned their secret story on the sly and took creative liberties when turning it into his popular penny dreadful. Dracula's true story involves the passing of his blood line through Mina Harker to her son; a malignant Dr. Van Helsing, who Scotland Yard suspects had a hand in the murders attributed to Jack the Ripper; and the exploits of a 16th-century vampire countess, Dracula's former lover, who cuts a bloody swath through London seeking the survivors of Dracula's last stand in Transylvania. Energetically paced and packed with outrageously entertaining action, this supernatural thriller is a well-needed shot of fresh blood for the Dracula mythos.

September 1, 2009
Bram's great-grandnephew teams up with Dracula buff Holt to reclaim vampire lit from the unholy, unlettered legions churning out today's fang-and-cloak stuff.

This big, blood-filled kitchen sink of a debut boasts a vast cast of characters: Bram Stoker himself, as well as his nefarious Count, Jack the Ripper, Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, Oscar Wilde,"blood Countess" Elizabeth Bathory, a mysterious Eastern European actor and a whole bunch of extremely hot (but also extremely cold, being dead and all) vampire chicks of uncertain gender preference. Bathory is definitely the heavy of the story, and it seems she's spoiling to outdo the number of grisly murders she is said to have committed in life, aided by a coterie of spidery bloodsucking assistants. As befits a multigenerational saga that springs from a book that had few survivors, some familiar characters are on the other side of the live/dead line, and some—well, some are indeed in the undead camp. There's lots of good old-fashioned polymorphously perverse degenerate romping ("Every orifice in her body became his plaything"). Stoker and Holt are careful not to go too far afield from the conventions of the original; Van Helsing, for instance, comes armed with"crosses, wafers, holy water, a wooden stake, a Bowie knife, and a crossbow armed and ready to fire," rather than some postmodern substitute for all that good wood and metal. Yet this competently (but no more than competently) written sequel—endorsed by the Stoker family, the publisher assures—has plenty of contemporary twists, including a weird Darth Vaderish turn at the end that some Bram-faithful readers may find magnificently silly.

Flies and spiders, master! Big, messy, lots of fun—and not Stephenie Meyer.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2009
This sequel to Bram Stroker's "Dracula" (1897) takes place in 1912, 25 years after the events of the first novel. The survivors of the encounter with Dracula are still haunted by the horror. Mina and Jonathan Harker's marriage is strained. Their adult son Quincy knows nothing of Dracula, and his parents hopein vain, as it turns outto keep him ignorant of past events. Jack Seward barely sustains his sanity with heroin. Arthur Holmwood hides in his manor, while an aged Dr. Van Helsing impatiently awaits the vampire's return. A demonic force begins insinuating itself into their lives. Death stalks them and those close to them. Meanwhile, Bram Stoker remains a bitter author who has had little success with his fictional version of Dracula. How he knew anything about the events of years ago is one of many mysteries explored here. VERDICT The authors (Stoker is a descendant of Bram, and Holt is a noted Dracula historian) skillfully explore the nature of evil while weaving together several complex plotlines throughout this mesmerizing story. Readers who enjoy dark fantasy with fast-paced action will plow through this book, not wanting to stop. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 6/1/09.]Patricia Altner, BiblioInfo.com, Columbia, MD

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2009
Bram Stokers descendant and Dracula historian Holt cast their authorized sequel 25 years after the events described in Dracula. The plucky band of heroes are older and scarred, numbing their fear with drink and drugs. Then, one by one, they are attacked, starting with the death of Jack Seward in Paris. Meanwhile, Quincy, son of Mina and Jonathan Harker, starts to uncover his familys long-hidden secrets as he works for a charismatic Romanian actor, Basarab. This historical-literary thriller explicitly connects Count Dracula to the historical figure Vlad Drakul (aka Vlad the Impaler) and introduces Elizabeth Bathory, a sixteenth-century Hungarian countess known for bathing in the blood of maidens. Like other lead characters in many authorized sequels, this Dracula, cast as a warrior devoted to Gods work, is a more sympathetic and complex character than the original evil vampire. The ambitious story, which claims to be the true story of Dracula and even reveals the real murderer behind Jack the Ripper, will appeal to literary-thriller readers as much as to mainstream horror fans. Recommend it equally to devotees of The Historian (2005) and The Dante Club (2002).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)