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zsinjapropos 's review for:
Dracul
by J.D. Barker, Dacre Stoker
A Dracula prequel written by a descendant of Bram Stoker?! Sign me up! Unfortunately, I had a great deal of trouble getting into the book, so much so that I nearly gave it up a few times. Why? A few factors. The first is my fault. I saw Dracula and the author and dove in without reading farther. I was therefore a bit disappointed to learn that the story didn’t deal with the Count’s story so much as it did Stoker’s. Second, the book takes quite a while to find its feet and engage the reader. The plot seems to drag along for the first few hundred pages. At 500+ pages, there’s plenty of time for the story to figure itself out, but man…that beginning is rough.
Now I will say, that once the plot begins to pick up, the book is fantastic. Stoker and Barker do a wonderful job keeping to Bram Stoker’s style and maintain a high level of gothic creepiness. Moreover, they have used historically verifiable aspects of Bram Stoker’s life to add realism to the plot. The imagery of the book is also simply fantastic. Bits and pieces strongly reminded me of elements from MR James’ classic ghost stories.
So in sum, I wound up liking this book far more by the end of it than I thought I would. Fans of Stoker’s Dracula and gothic horror in general may want to give it a go…the ending is worth the slog. More casual readers, however, may want to give this one a pass.
An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Now I will say, that once the plot begins to pick up, the book is fantastic. Stoker and Barker do a wonderful job keeping to Bram Stoker’s style and maintain a high level of gothic creepiness. Moreover, they have used historically verifiable aspects of Bram Stoker’s life to add realism to the plot. The imagery of the book is also simply fantastic. Bits and pieces strongly reminded me of elements from MR James’ classic ghost stories.
So in sum, I wound up liking this book far more by the end of it than I thought I would. Fans of Stoker’s Dracula and gothic horror in general may want to give it a go…the ending is worth the slog. More casual readers, however, may want to give this one a pass.
An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.