The Dracula Dossier: A Novel of Suspense
by James Reese
|
|
| published
|
October 1st 2008
by William Morrow
|
| binding
| Hardcover |
| isbn
|
0061233544
(isbn13: 9780061233548)
|
| ebook |
|
| pages
| 400 |
| date added
|
05-22-08
|
|
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other reviews
(showing 1-20 of 6)
bookshelves:
historical,
horror
Read in August, 2008
recommended to Deety by:
lt
This book is a historical thriller where Bram Stoker and his literary friends fight Jack the Ripper, and these events are supposedly the inspiration for Dracula. Sounds pretty fantastic, right?
Unfortunately the Dracula Dossier doesn't really live up to its premise. It starts off slow, and continues even slower. It picks up when the murders finally start, and this final section of the book is interesting enough to make me even more disapp...more
This book is a historical thriller where Bram Stoker and his literary friends fight Jack the Ripper, and these events are supposedly the inspiration for Dracula. Sounds pretty fantastic, right?
Unfortunately the Dracula Dossier doesn't really live up to its premise. It starts off slow, and continues even slower. It picks up when the murders finally start, and this final section of the book is interesting enough to make me even more disappointed in the dull mess that came before it.
The story is presented as a newly-discovered secret dossier made up mostly of Stoker's journal and letters. There are many other aspects of the story that either mirror or reference Dracula, unfortunately the author tends to point them out in the footnotes instead of just letting the reader enjoy picking up on them.
And that's far from the only footnote-related offense. Yes, a few of the footnotes are interesting. Some of them point out an alleged bit of marginalia that Stoker added to an article or a necessary piece of historical knowledge. But other historical footnotes seem more about showing off the author's research than advancing our understanding of the story or characters.
And there are quite a few footnotes that come across as both unnecessary and a little condescending. The vast majority of people who will be interested enough in this idea to read this style of prose will understand that Whitman means Walt, Holmes-like means Sherlock, and that Miss Shelley's monster is a reference to Frankenstein. The constant footnotes jerk you out of the novel, so it's frustrating when that happens for no reason. Seriously, at one point there's even a footnote pointing out a pun.
This was a great idea, but the few highlights at the end aren't really worth it....less
bookshelves:
mystery
This novel is told through newspaper clippings, journal entries and letters. I love this form of telling a story, and it is used to great advantage by Reese in this novel. In addition, there were plentiful footnotes throughout the novel, giving more information for those not necessarily familiar with the life of Bram Stoker and his contemporaries.
The story involves Bram Stoker as well as Jack the Ripper. There is much that is written well and terribly interesting about the novel. It was a grea...more
This novel is told through newspaper clippings, journal entries and letters. I love this form of telling a story, and it is used to great advantage by Reese in this novel. In addition, there were plentiful footnotes throughout the novel, giving more information for those not necessarily familiar with the life of Bram Stoker and his contemporaries.
The story involves Bram Stoker as well as Jack the Ripper. There is much that is written well and terribly interesting about the novel. It was a great read that I enjoyed thoroughly, although I do have to say that it was difficult getting into the book in the beginning due to the introductory letter. However, this does set the story up nicely even though it was less fun to read than the rest of the book.
There were a couple of things I really enjoyed about the novel, including how the novel really felt like it was written during the Victorian era. The cadence and the pacing of the novel really evoked the sense of location and era perfectly. I also really enjoyed how well Stoker's character talks about depression. With a lack of knowledge of depression during that time period, Reese really managed to describe how someone with depression feels and the different dissociative actions they might commit during a time of depression.
This was simply a great book, great sense of time and place. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel, which was nice, because I was than impressed with Reese's previous book "Book of Shadows"....less
bookshelves:
advanced-reader-copy
Read in July, 2008
I so wanted to love this book. God knows I love nothing more than an intriguing, history-steeped, London-based story. But I never could connect with the narrator and found the language throughout very stilted. The narrative devices were distracting and my patience ran out around page 175. For me, this is highly atypical.
I was intrigued by the glimpses into the intertwined lives of Stoker, Keats and Wilde but the pace was too slow to stick it out. I was also hoping to be immersed in London ...more
I so wanted to love this book. God knows I love nothing more than an intriguing, history-steeped, London-based story. But I never could connect with the narrator and found the language throughout very stilted. The narrative devices were distracting and my patience ran out around page 175. For me, this is highly atypical.
I was intrigued by the glimpses into the intertwined lives of Stoker, Keats and Wilde but the pace was too slow to stick it out. I was also hoping to be immersed in London of that time but felt like I was only skipping over the surface as I read....less
Jill
marked it as to-read
07/30/08
bookshelves:
to-read
Mabs
marked it as to-read
06/23/08
bookshelves:
to-read
book data (includes all editions)
avg rating
(all editions):
3.00 (6 ratings)
number of reviews: 3
