[close] Welcome to Brian Lumley's wild world of vampires, slayers, spies, and psychics, created in his breakthrough 1986 book Necroscope, which introduced Harry Keogh, a man who could commune with dead people. Harry was such a skilled linguist of "deadspeak" that the British Secret Service recruited him into E-Branch, its ace paranormal unit. Harry waged a war against vampires--until the tables turned and he became another bloodsucking statistic. No longer a Necroscope (top vampire hunter), now he's a kind of advisor who beams helpful thoughts from the afterlife.

E-Branch's vampire woes intensify in Necroscope Defilers, the 12th installment of Lumley's series. A trio of seriously nasty critters are spreading their spawn on earth, but E-Branch is in crisis. Jake Cutter, the new Necroscope, is preoccupied with a personal vendetta--he's hunting down the Sicilian mobsters who killed his girlfriend. Jake also faces another minor distraction--a dead vampire named Korath is stuck inside his head, whispering evil nothings into his ear all day long. As the unholy monsters descend upon the Greek island of Krassos, it seems all hell will break loose--literally. Will Jake return to E-Branch and help annihilate this unholy scum, or is mankind doomed?

Although Necroscope Defilers is a little light on original plot twists, Lumley's curious country is still a land worth visiting, halfway between science fiction and dark fantasy. --Naomi Gesinger [close]