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Necroscope #11
Invaders
Three great vampires--two Lords and a Lady--arrive on an unsuspecting Earth that teems with defenseless humans, easy prey for the marauding vampires. But humanity has defenders. Though the necroscope is gone, the psychically gifted men and women of E-Branch move swiftly against the vampire infestation.
Jake Cutter is running for his life through the streets of Turin when he vanishes, appearing moments later inside the triply locked "Harry's room" in E-Branch's London HQ. Jake's dreams are very strange, filled with the voices of the dead--the Great majority, the Necroscope, Harry Keogh, even a dead vampire. He hears them all, but he doesn't truly understand.
If Jake is the new Necroscope, he has to learn--fast!--how to control his powers and speak to the dead. E-Branch, with the reluctant Jake along for the ride, is about to go head-to-head with Malinari the Mind, a vampire Lord who psychic abilities are second to none.
But the dead don't trust Jake, not like they trusted Harry. Jake's got personal revenge on his mind, and he's spending too much time talking that dead vampire. He's got to start thinking about the future--or he won't have one!
Jake Cutter is running for his life through the streets of Turin when he vanishes, appearing moments later inside the triply locked "Harry's room" in E-Branch's London HQ. Jake's dreams are very strange, filled with the voices of the dead--the Great majority, the Necroscope, Harry Keogh, even a dead vampire. He hears them all, but he doesn't truly understand.
If Jake is the new Necroscope, he has to learn--fast!--how to control his powers and speak to the dead. E-Branch, with the reluctant Jake along for the ride, is about to go head-to-head with Malinari the Mind, a vampire Lord who psychic abilities are second to none.
But the dead don't trust Jake, not like they trusted Harry. Jake's got personal revenge on his mind, and he's spending too much time talking that dead vampire. He's got to start thinking about the future--or he won't have one!
544 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
37 people are currently reading
1515 people want to read
About the author
Brian Lumley
444 books1,353 followersBrian Lumley was born near Newcastle. In 22 years as a Military Policeman he served in many of the Cold War hotspots, including Berlin, as well as Cyprus in partition days. He reached the rank of Sergeant-Major before retiring to Devon to write full-time, and his work was first published in 1970. The vampire series, 'Necroscope', has been translated into ten languages and sold over a million copies worldwide.
He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.
He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
July 14, 2025
The series takes a big turn with this book, I’m not reading the previous 10 books takes a bit of adjustment to get used to the new direction in the story goes. Well, it’s nice to have air fresh and style after so many books I took quite a long time to get attached to Jake and most of the other main characters.
This was still a fun read with lots of action and great lore. I particularly like how it’s a little bit more of a team effort rather than a loan warrior. (although the aspect is still there to a degree.) but you really get to see how E-branch works in operates which I enjoyed seeing.
I don’t think this book will be many people‘s favorite of the series. But if you made it all way to book 11, I think you will find more than enough to enjoy to make this book worth reading.
This was still a fun read with lots of action and great lore. I particularly like how it’s a little bit more of a team effort rather than a loan warrior. (although the aspect is still there to a degree.) but you really get to see how E-branch works in operates which I enjoyed seeing.
I don’t think this book will be many people‘s favorite of the series. But if you made it all way to book 11, I think you will find more than enough to enjoy to make this book worth reading.
January 7, 2022
This book had the difficult task of summing up the series thus far, setting up a new trilogy, and telling an exciting story, it mostly succeeds. The new characters aren't as good as the older and original ones and the returning characters didn't get enough page time in my opinion but I still thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Depending on your enjoyment of Lumley's writing and storytelling your mileage will vary.
March 15, 2015
New characters are introduced, now that Harry has moved on. The main story is still vampires (this time come from Starside/Sunside) who have invaded our world and the British ESPers who are trying to kill them. I liked it.
June 11, 2020
First 100 pages I really like, downhill from there.
July 29, 2023
I was a bit disappointed with this one. Looked forwards to the E-Branch trilogy because that’s my favourite aspect of the Necroscope universe. While this had a good opening & finale there was a lot of backtracking in the main body of the book. I recall that the low point so far in the saga was the first of the Vampire World trilogy which was similar so maybe it’s a thing when Lumley is setting up a trilogy that the first is a lot of stage setting rather than story. That said, I did enjoy the Australian setting & the resort hideout. Hopefully the next instalment will be better.
January 2, 2021
A lot of background in this book made for some very boring chapters, but then the action towards the end of the book made up for it. I’m sure the next two will be more action based.
May 17, 2023
Started out great but the bulk of the book was a bit of a slog to get through. Picked up at the end to propel the reader into the next book of the trilogy. Hope Defilers delivers!
March 20, 2013
Not bad - you can tell Lumley was getting a bit long-of-tooth here. Still pretty entertaining though.
Very good series! Imagine any knowledge that you needed at the ready for your asking. Enter Harry. Very well designed story, with a main character that is easily identified with, Harry Koegh. The imagination that came up with these characters must have experienced some truly awful things. Lumley, being an ex SAS officer, surely did.
The vampires in this series are not nice. They are not warm and fuzzy. They're not cute (well, the women can be) and they know one primal rule: Anything to remain alive... so to speak. They are the epitome of ruthlessness, guile, viciousness, and outright cruelty. Lumley is good at this, and the stories get more and more gripping as the series carries on. We eventually even learn of the vampire's origins (The Source). Brutal and scary as hell at times. Always imaginative and truly entertaining.
Very good series! Imagine any knowledge that you needed at the ready for your asking. Enter Harry. Very well designed story, with a main character that is easily identified with, Harry Koegh. The imagination that came up with these characters must have experienced some truly awful things. Lumley, being an ex SAS officer, surely did.
The vampires in this series are not nice. They are not warm and fuzzy. They're not cute (well, the women can be) and they know one primal rule: Anything to remain alive... so to speak. They are the epitome of ruthlessness, guile, viciousness, and outright cruelty. Lumley is good at this, and the stories get more and more gripping as the series carries on. We eventually even learn of the vampire's origins (The Source). Brutal and scary as hell at times. Always imaginative and truly entertaining.
February 12, 2015
Necroscope: Invaders is the first volume in the E-branch series from Brian Lumley, a book which follows other books in the Necroscope series. I don't normally pick up books in mid-series. It misses too much of a story's beginnings, and that thought was at the back of my mind the entire time I was reading this book. Lumley did a good job of filling the reader in on the previous essentials, and I actually found those to be the most interesting parts of this book. But I wish I had started with book 1. Having said that, I'm not sure how much of an introduction to give this book because so much of it is built on previous books, but I'll give it a shot.
The story is set in a "future" 2007. This caused some humorous confusion for me before I realized that because I was wondering when some of these world news events happened that I never heard of. When I hit the 2007 date reference, that's when I decided to check the copyright date: 1999. "Ohhhh …" (Chuckle, chuckle … From now on, I will learn to check copyright dates before I begin reading.)
The main character is a young man named Jake, who is an ex-convict seeking revenge on the men who raped and murdered his girlfriend. He escaped prison with a little paranormal help and has been invited to join the E-branch, mostly against his will. Either he works with this special forces government agency, or he goes back to jail. E-branch reminds me a lot of X-men or Alphas type organizations, where people with special abilities are collected by the government for special operations and research on paranormal phenomenon. Jake, unknown to himself, seems to have inherited teleportation and necroscope abilities from a former E-brancher that has passed on. The team leader of E-branch sends him out with some other new and veteran recruits to make sure it's their former team member he's channeling in his ability to speak with the dead and skip through space. Their prey to test their theory? Vampires.
The vampires in this series are an interesting blend of sci-fi and horror. So far I know of only one other vampire series that approached the species as alien transplants, so I enjoyed this often unused take on their creation. Spores of an alien life form from planetary debris fell into the swamps of a parallel world, and those spores infected animals, which then infected human beings. The humans then go through various stages to become vampires and create other vampires, the final stage of the leech's life cycle being an attempt to return to spores to reinfect a new host.
The details that Lumley gives on his own brand of vampires is rich and well thought-out. Reading through the E-branch files, alongside Jake, and hearing the origins tales from old man Lardis of that parallel world were another highlight of the book for me, simply because I love comparing various vampire archetypes and traits. As vampires, these monsters are delightfully classic in their grotesqueness, ability to morph, and ability to control everyone on various levels, including beyond "true" death. These are the kinds of vampires you have to hunt down and destroy the entire hive with big, fiery explosions, and that's exactly the kind of mission Jake and company are engaged in.
The plot follows Jake's initiation into the E-branch, then backs up to elaborate on his girlfriend's rape and murder and his quest for vengeance which landed him in jail. It also backs up to relate past incidents with E-branch attempts to fight the vampires and settle an old, unfinished score by exterminating the three vampires who crossed the gates between the parallel worlds to infect our planet earth. So, parallel vengeance stories going on there … I loved the back-story for this book, and I enjoy seek-and-destroy type stories in general. But I didn't enjoy reading about Jake's personal quest, and I felt like I didn't truly understand much of the personal stuff going on with the veteran E-branch members.
My fog concerning the E-branch revenge plot is easily fixable by reading the previous books, I imagine. And I would look forward to that, so I don't fault the author there. As I said, he did a great job filling in essentials and peaking my interest in previous books. But it was really hard for me to form any kind of connection to Jake. Perhaps this was intentional on Lumley's part. Not all protagonists are designed to be likable and heroic, and novels are the protagonists' stories, not the reader's. But there usually has to be some kind of connection that the reader can understand to try to relate to the protagonist. I didn't like Jake and couldn't relate to him at all.
Other characters … the veteran E-branchers didn't stand out as individuals to me like perhaps they might have if I had read the first few books. Again, I won't fault the author for that. They were developed enough to have their own personalities and talents, but after reading the book, I couldn't tell you much about them, other than their jobs. Too much story and not enough pages—it happens. Again, I consider it incentive to read the first books.
Liz was the leading (token) female, but even she didn't strike me as memorable. Unfortunately, this one does fall into the author's lap of responsibility. Sure, she's got some bad-ass fighting skills and can read minds. But otherwise, she's a "sexy lamp". If you're not familiar with this phrase it comes from the Bechdel Test. You can read more about it here: http://sequart.org/magazine/34150/the...
Basically it means you could sub any kind of desirable inanimate object in her place and still have the same story. This female lead contributed a little to the plot in terms of being there to spy on Jake's thoughts for E-branch, and she was a team player in fights. But for the most part, she was the attractive prize for Jake to fantasize about. She had no agency—she did not make plot-changing decisions or take plot-changing actions. I got tired of reading about her body descriptions, and Jake's erotic dreams concerning her. The male characters did not get the same "sexy" run-down that she did. Perhaps this was just Jake's personality regarding her that annoying me. But it was enough to make me tune out of the story because of how decidedly sexist it felt. For this, I docked a star off of my ability to enjoy the story. Female readers like action stories, too. But when we're stuck in the role of sexy lamp, that's just irritating.
By contrast, my favourite character was the old man from the parallel world—Lardis. I enjoyed hearing his tales about his world, his background with the vampires, and how he was coping in the new world. His personality was very likable, and he had memorable accents and language issues. He tried to have a sense of light humor on occasion, in spite of his having seen the worst of the vampire plague in his own world. And he was a "wise man" type of character. He was the kind of character I could imagine myself having a cup of tea with while listening to his yarns all night. So, he's the one that stood out among the rest of the cast, for me.
Overall, this story is action-packed from beginning to end. I praise the depth of the back-stories for E-branch and the vampires themselves. I loved the vampire construction. And I am very curious to read the first books in the series. But because of Jake and Liz, I'm not interested in reading any more from this particular collection. My biggest complaint is Liz's handling. She had potential, but she was too objectified for my taste. Otherwise, it's a great book for action and horror fans. So, 4 out of 5 stars for me.
The story is set in a "future" 2007. This caused some humorous confusion for me before I realized that because I was wondering when some of these world news events happened that I never heard of. When I hit the 2007 date reference, that's when I decided to check the copyright date: 1999. "Ohhhh …" (Chuckle, chuckle … From now on, I will learn to check copyright dates before I begin reading.)
The main character is a young man named Jake, who is an ex-convict seeking revenge on the men who raped and murdered his girlfriend. He escaped prison with a little paranormal help and has been invited to join the E-branch, mostly against his will. Either he works with this special forces government agency, or he goes back to jail. E-branch reminds me a lot of X-men or Alphas type organizations, where people with special abilities are collected by the government for special operations and research on paranormal phenomenon. Jake, unknown to himself, seems to have inherited teleportation and necroscope abilities from a former E-brancher that has passed on. The team leader of E-branch sends him out with some other new and veteran recruits to make sure it's their former team member he's channeling in his ability to speak with the dead and skip through space. Their prey to test their theory? Vampires.
The vampires in this series are an interesting blend of sci-fi and horror. So far I know of only one other vampire series that approached the species as alien transplants, so I enjoyed this often unused take on their creation. Spores of an alien life form from planetary debris fell into the swamps of a parallel world, and those spores infected animals, which then infected human beings. The humans then go through various stages to become vampires and create other vampires, the final stage of the leech's life cycle being an attempt to return to spores to reinfect a new host.
The details that Lumley gives on his own brand of vampires is rich and well thought-out. Reading through the E-branch files, alongside Jake, and hearing the origins tales from old man Lardis of that parallel world were another highlight of the book for me, simply because I love comparing various vampire archetypes and traits. As vampires, these monsters are delightfully classic in their grotesqueness, ability to morph, and ability to control everyone on various levels, including beyond "true" death. These are the kinds of vampires you have to hunt down and destroy the entire hive with big, fiery explosions, and that's exactly the kind of mission Jake and company are engaged in.
The plot follows Jake's initiation into the E-branch, then backs up to elaborate on his girlfriend's rape and murder and his quest for vengeance which landed him in jail. It also backs up to relate past incidents with E-branch attempts to fight the vampires and settle an old, unfinished score by exterminating the three vampires who crossed the gates between the parallel worlds to infect our planet earth. So, parallel vengeance stories going on there … I loved the back-story for this book, and I enjoy seek-and-destroy type stories in general. But I didn't enjoy reading about Jake's personal quest, and I felt like I didn't truly understand much of the personal stuff going on with the veteran E-branch members.
My fog concerning the E-branch revenge plot is easily fixable by reading the previous books, I imagine. And I would look forward to that, so I don't fault the author there. As I said, he did a great job filling in essentials and peaking my interest in previous books. But it was really hard for me to form any kind of connection to Jake. Perhaps this was intentional on Lumley's part. Not all protagonists are designed to be likable and heroic, and novels are the protagonists' stories, not the reader's. But there usually has to be some kind of connection that the reader can understand to try to relate to the protagonist. I didn't like Jake and couldn't relate to him at all.
Other characters … the veteran E-branchers didn't stand out as individuals to me like perhaps they might have if I had read the first few books. Again, I won't fault the author for that. They were developed enough to have their own personalities and talents, but after reading the book, I couldn't tell you much about them, other than their jobs. Too much story and not enough pages—it happens. Again, I consider it incentive to read the first books.
Liz was the leading (token) female, but even she didn't strike me as memorable. Unfortunately, this one does fall into the author's lap of responsibility. Sure, she's got some bad-ass fighting skills and can read minds. But otherwise, she's a "sexy lamp". If you're not familiar with this phrase it comes from the Bechdel Test. You can read more about it here: http://sequart.org/magazine/34150/the...
Basically it means you could sub any kind of desirable inanimate object in her place and still have the same story. This female lead contributed a little to the plot in terms of being there to spy on Jake's thoughts for E-branch, and she was a team player in fights. But for the most part, she was the attractive prize for Jake to fantasize about. She had no agency—she did not make plot-changing decisions or take plot-changing actions. I got tired of reading about her body descriptions, and Jake's erotic dreams concerning her. The male characters did not get the same "sexy" run-down that she did. Perhaps this was just Jake's personality regarding her that annoying me. But it was enough to make me tune out of the story because of how decidedly sexist it felt. For this, I docked a star off of my ability to enjoy the story. Female readers like action stories, too. But when we're stuck in the role of sexy lamp, that's just irritating.
By contrast, my favourite character was the old man from the parallel world—Lardis. I enjoyed hearing his tales about his world, his background with the vampires, and how he was coping in the new world. His personality was very likable, and he had memorable accents and language issues. He tried to have a sense of light humor on occasion, in spite of his having seen the worst of the vampire plague in his own world. And he was a "wise man" type of character. He was the kind of character I could imagine myself having a cup of tea with while listening to his yarns all night. So, he's the one that stood out among the rest of the cast, for me.
Overall, this story is action-packed from beginning to end. I praise the depth of the back-stories for E-branch and the vampires themselves. I loved the vampire construction. And I am very curious to read the first books in the series. But because of Jake and Liz, I'm not interested in reading any more from this particular collection. My biggest complaint is Liz's handling. She had potential, but she was too objectified for my taste. Otherwise, it's a great book for action and horror fans. So, 4 out of 5 stars for me.
February 27, 2024
This is the 11th book in the Necroscope series and the first in the E-Branch trilogy.
I REALLY enjoyed this one. It brought it back to the first 5 in the series (really the first 3) where its all about E-Branch and their dealing with Vampires and "Gadgets and Ghosts". To Me, besides the vampires and Harry, E-Branch was the best part of the first main books in the series. While I did enjoy the Vampire World Trilogy ( Necroscope 6-8) I didn't realize how much I needed to be back in "our world" with E-Branch again as a whole team.
In this book we are introduced to Jake Cutter, the new Necroscope. Unlike Harrys son, Nathan, who was born with some Psi powers and received Harrys "darts" to fulfill his necroscope destiny, Jake is in big trouble and Harrys Darts find him. Apparently, Harrys consciousness saw something in Jake even through for 80% of the book Jake acts selfish and a baby. So far, he is the worst part of this book.
I enjoyed Trask, David Chung, Ian Goodly and new E-Brancher Liz.
Story follows the Vampire Trilogy ending. The new seasons melt the ice lands and unleashes some of the older more powerful Wamphyri that were exiled. There were 3 powerful ones in particular that were able to escape the ice. While they found the gate to our world (thanks to Russian Goons using the gate for selfish reasons) the other vampires kept Nathan busy at home side.
SO enter 3 Powerful vampires on our world and E-Branch trying to hunt them down, find their "gardens" and thralls and Stake, Decapitate and Burn all of them. The first 150 pages were awesome. reminded me of the movie Vampires by John Carpenter. It did drag a little in middle, but the author had a tough job of reminding the reader of 8 previous novels and previous plots while also allowing us to watch Jake grow and deal with his newfound powers.
Easily stars for me. Cant wait to read the next one.
I REALLY enjoyed this one. It brought it back to the first 5 in the series (really the first 3) where its all about E-Branch and their dealing with Vampires and "Gadgets and Ghosts". To Me, besides the vampires and Harry, E-Branch was the best part of the first main books in the series. While I did enjoy the Vampire World Trilogy ( Necroscope 6-8) I didn't realize how much I needed to be back in "our world" with E-Branch again as a whole team.
In this book we are introduced to Jake Cutter, the new Necroscope. Unlike Harrys son, Nathan, who was born with some Psi powers and received Harrys "darts" to fulfill his necroscope destiny, Jake is in big trouble and Harrys Darts find him. Apparently, Harrys consciousness saw something in Jake even through for 80% of the book Jake acts selfish and a baby. So far, he is the worst part of this book.
I enjoyed Trask, David Chung, Ian Goodly and new E-Brancher Liz.
Story follows the Vampire Trilogy ending. The new seasons melt the ice lands and unleashes some of the older more powerful Wamphyri that were exiled. There were 3 powerful ones in particular that were able to escape the ice. While they found the gate to our world (thanks to Russian Goons using the gate for selfish reasons) the other vampires kept Nathan busy at home side.
SO enter 3 Powerful vampires on our world and E-Branch trying to hunt them down, find their "gardens" and thralls and Stake, Decapitate and Burn all of them. The first 150 pages were awesome. reminded me of the movie Vampires by John Carpenter. It did drag a little in middle, but the author had a tough job of reminding the reader of 8 previous novels and previous plots while also allowing us to watch Jake grow and deal with his newfound powers.
Easily stars for me. Cant wait to read the next one.
November 26, 2022
Ugh, what a slog. I love the Necroscope books, despite their flaws (the treatment of female characters in general paramount among them, which continues in book #11 here just fine and dandy), but this one was so difficult to get through. A really strong opening with a few genuinely creepy moments, and then hundreds of pages of set-up and exposition. To the extent that I checked on two separate occasions which book I'd missed reading, because I was sure that I had. Nope! Just four hundred pages of introducing new characters, new situations, flashing back to events which had happened in the past but not in any of the books, then flashing back from within the flashbacks to yet more flashbacks and then, I swear to God, exposition within those flashbacks.
Which is kinda Lumley's narrative process in some respects, and the parts about the new Wamphyri were okay once they got going. But holy moly, is Jake a dud of a protagonist. He's supposed to be the new Necroscope, but he's mostly just a cipher for E-Branch. Devoid of his own personality, what shreds of personality he does have are based solely on the awful fridging of a female character (quelle surprise!), and most of what he learns he instantly forgets, then has to learn again in a series of realizations and revelations.
But I do love the Necroscope books, so onward! Hopefully now that everything's set up and established (IT BETTER BE), what comes next will proceed a little more smoothly.
Which is kinda Lumley's narrative process in some respects, and the parts about the new Wamphyri were okay once they got going. But holy moly, is Jake a dud of a protagonist. He's supposed to be the new Necroscope, but he's mostly just a cipher for E-Branch. Devoid of his own personality, what shreds of personality he does have are based solely on the awful fridging of a female character (quelle surprise!), and most of what he learns he instantly forgets, then has to learn again in a series of realizations and revelations.
But I do love the Necroscope books, so onward! Hopefully now that everything's set up and established (IT BETTER BE), what comes next will proceed a little more smoothly.
February 6, 2012
The Necroscope E-Branch seriesis a spin-off from the Necroscope series and is set in the Necroscope universe with a strong focus on the characters from E-Branch rather than Harry Keogh. It consists of:
Necroscope: Invaders
Necroscope: Defilers
Necroscope: Avengers
Plot ***Spoilers***
Invaders
Three great vampires - two Lords and a Lady - fall upon an unsuspecting Earth, a world teeming with defenseless human life. easy prey for the marauding vampires, mankind will quickly be laid waste, or so they think.
But Earth has defenders. Though the Necroscope is gone, the ESP-powered spy organization he once led still exists. Mentally alert for the slightest sign of vampire taint, the men and women of E-Branch have already moved against the fringes of vampire infestation.
Destroying minor vampires is all well and good, but the Lords and Lady must be found and eradicated. Without Harry Keogh and his connection to the teeming dead, E-Branch seems crippled, always two steps behind it's enemies.
When a young man turns up in the triply locked "Harry's Room" in E-Branch's London HQ, no one quite knows what to make of him - least of all the young man himself. Jake remembers running for his life, thousands of miles from London...and then nothing.
Now he feels a curious whispering deep within his mind. And his dreams have become very strange, filled with visitations from dead vampires and dead people and Harry Keogh himself.
If Jake is the new Necroscope, he has to learn - fast! - how to control his powers and speak to the dead. E-Branch, with the reluctant Jake along for the ride, is about to go head-to-head with Malinari the Mind, a vampire Lord whose psychic ability is second to none.
But the dead don't trust Jake, not like they once trusted Harry. jake's spending too much time talking to a dead vampire, and too much time on personal revenge. He's got to start thinking about the future - or he won't have one!
Defilers
Jake Cutter is reluctantly learning how to be a Necroscope -- how to use the Möbius Continuum to travel instantaneously from place to place, how to talk to the dead -- but the dead don't like him much. It seems Jake's got a hitchhiker in his mind, a dead vampire named Korath. Since Korath holds the key to the Möbius equations, Jake can't just kick him out ... though he's certainly trying!
Jake's not sure he really wants to be a member of E-Branch, the super-secret ESP-powered organisation that's dedicated to eradicating the vampire infestation of Earth. To the freewheeling, passionate Jake, the E-Branchers seem a little stuffy and hidebound -- except for the lovely Liz, whom Jake wants to get to know better, body and mind. But Liz is a telepath, and if Jake's not careful, she'll find out about Korath. And that will likely be the end of Jake Cutter.
In Australia, Jake helped E-Branch destroy the aerie of the mind-master, Nephran Malinari, one of the trio of Great Vampires who came to Earth from the vampire world. Malinari escaped and went to ground with the hideously beautiful Lady Vavara. Vavara has taken over a holy monastery on an idyllic Greek island and turned the nuns into most unholy creatures of fearsome appetites for all things carnal.
Jake wants revenge against the Italian mobsters who killed the woman he loved, and nearly killed him. As far as he's concerned, E-Branch can search for Malinari, Vavara, and the metamorphic Lord Szwart without him until he's satisfied his own bloodlust. But it seems vampire-hunting is truly Jake's job now -- the men he's trying to kill aren't men at all, but vampire spawn, hidden for two generations in human guise!
To defeat them, Jake will need every weapon in the Necroscope's arsenal, including the power to call the unsleeping dead out of their mouldering graves...
Avengers
A cruise ship is a great place to get away from the world. It's also a terrific nesting ground for a Lord and Lady of the Wamphyri on the run from E-Branch and the new Necroscope, Jake Cutter. By the time anyone figures out what happened to the suddenly silenced ship and its crew and passengers, it'll be too late, much too late...
Ben Trask, Jake Cutter, Millicent Cleary, Liz Merrick, Lardis Lidesci, and the rest of E-Branch are anxious to find the Lady Vavara and Lords Malinari and Szwart. The Wamphyri may be on the run for now, but soon they'll recover from E-Branch's attacks and be ready to attempt once again to conquer the Earth.
Jake's struggle with Korath, the vampire inhabitant of his mind, has come to a crisis point: Korath is determined to gain control of Jake's life, and Jake is equally determined not to let him have it. But the only way to win this struggle is to confide in Ben Trask - and the head of E-Branch is likely to want Jake dead once he knows of Jake's intrusive passenger.
Szwart's spore garden under London is proving to have borne bitter fruit indeed. A mysterious sleeping sickness is slowly spreading among the population of Great Britain - and the afflicted are becoming something quite other then human. And Millie Cleary was trapped down there with Szwart for a long time. A very long time.
Harry Keogh is summoned from the Great Beyond via the combined powers of E-Branch's strongest agents. Held precariously in this time and place, the oracular former Necroscope gives what aid and advice he can, putting Korath under a form of "house arrest." E-Branch action teams have almost more on their plates than they can handle - locating renegade communists who threaten nuclear homicide; cooperating with Gustav Turchin, head of Russia's mindspy organization, in trying to permanently close the Gate between the Wamphyri world and Earth; analyzing the spore plague; and always, always hunting the Wamphyri.
A terrible conflagration precedes a horrifying confrontation in the shadow of the Gate as the Wamphyri and E-Branch conduct what should be their final battle. But in the world of the Necroscope, nothing, not even death...or undeath...is necessarily forever.
And as always, the future is a devious thing.
Necroscope: Invaders
Necroscope: Defilers
Necroscope: Avengers
Plot ***Spoilers***
Invaders
Three great vampires - two Lords and a Lady - fall upon an unsuspecting Earth, a world teeming with defenseless human life. easy prey for the marauding vampires, mankind will quickly be laid waste, or so they think.
But Earth has defenders. Though the Necroscope is gone, the ESP-powered spy organization he once led still exists. Mentally alert for the slightest sign of vampire taint, the men and women of E-Branch have already moved against the fringes of vampire infestation.
Destroying minor vampires is all well and good, but the Lords and Lady must be found and eradicated. Without Harry Keogh and his connection to the teeming dead, E-Branch seems crippled, always two steps behind it's enemies.
When a young man turns up in the triply locked "Harry's Room" in E-Branch's London HQ, no one quite knows what to make of him - least of all the young man himself. Jake remembers running for his life, thousands of miles from London...and then nothing.
Now he feels a curious whispering deep within his mind. And his dreams have become very strange, filled with visitations from dead vampires and dead people and Harry Keogh himself.
If Jake is the new Necroscope, he has to learn - fast! - how to control his powers and speak to the dead. E-Branch, with the reluctant Jake along for the ride, is about to go head-to-head with Malinari the Mind, a vampire Lord whose psychic ability is second to none.
But the dead don't trust Jake, not like they once trusted Harry. jake's spending too much time talking to a dead vampire, and too much time on personal revenge. He's got to start thinking about the future - or he won't have one!
Defilers
Jake Cutter is reluctantly learning how to be a Necroscope -- how to use the Möbius Continuum to travel instantaneously from place to place, how to talk to the dead -- but the dead don't like him much. It seems Jake's got a hitchhiker in his mind, a dead vampire named Korath. Since Korath holds the key to the Möbius equations, Jake can't just kick him out ... though he's certainly trying!
Jake's not sure he really wants to be a member of E-Branch, the super-secret ESP-powered organisation that's dedicated to eradicating the vampire infestation of Earth. To the freewheeling, passionate Jake, the E-Branchers seem a little stuffy and hidebound -- except for the lovely Liz, whom Jake wants to get to know better, body and mind. But Liz is a telepath, and if Jake's not careful, she'll find out about Korath. And that will likely be the end of Jake Cutter.
In Australia, Jake helped E-Branch destroy the aerie of the mind-master, Nephran Malinari, one of the trio of Great Vampires who came to Earth from the vampire world. Malinari escaped and went to ground with the hideously beautiful Lady Vavara. Vavara has taken over a holy monastery on an idyllic Greek island and turned the nuns into most unholy creatures of fearsome appetites for all things carnal.
Jake wants revenge against the Italian mobsters who killed the woman he loved, and nearly killed him. As far as he's concerned, E-Branch can search for Malinari, Vavara, and the metamorphic Lord Szwart without him until he's satisfied his own bloodlust. But it seems vampire-hunting is truly Jake's job now -- the men he's trying to kill aren't men at all, but vampire spawn, hidden for two generations in human guise!
To defeat them, Jake will need every weapon in the Necroscope's arsenal, including the power to call the unsleeping dead out of their mouldering graves...
Avengers
A cruise ship is a great place to get away from the world. It's also a terrific nesting ground for a Lord and Lady of the Wamphyri on the run from E-Branch and the new Necroscope, Jake Cutter. By the time anyone figures out what happened to the suddenly silenced ship and its crew and passengers, it'll be too late, much too late...
Ben Trask, Jake Cutter, Millicent Cleary, Liz Merrick, Lardis Lidesci, and the rest of E-Branch are anxious to find the Lady Vavara and Lords Malinari and Szwart. The Wamphyri may be on the run for now, but soon they'll recover from E-Branch's attacks and be ready to attempt once again to conquer the Earth.
Jake's struggle with Korath, the vampire inhabitant of his mind, has come to a crisis point: Korath is determined to gain control of Jake's life, and Jake is equally determined not to let him have it. But the only way to win this struggle is to confide in Ben Trask - and the head of E-Branch is likely to want Jake dead once he knows of Jake's intrusive passenger.
Szwart's spore garden under London is proving to have borne bitter fruit indeed. A mysterious sleeping sickness is slowly spreading among the population of Great Britain - and the afflicted are becoming something quite other then human. And Millie Cleary was trapped down there with Szwart for a long time. A very long time.
Harry Keogh is summoned from the Great Beyond via the combined powers of E-Branch's strongest agents. Held precariously in this time and place, the oracular former Necroscope gives what aid and advice he can, putting Korath under a form of "house arrest." E-Branch action teams have almost more on their plates than they can handle - locating renegade communists who threaten nuclear homicide; cooperating with Gustav Turchin, head of Russia's mindspy organization, in trying to permanently close the Gate between the Wamphyri world and Earth; analyzing the spore plague; and always, always hunting the Wamphyri.
A terrible conflagration precedes a horrifying confrontation in the shadow of the Gate as the Wamphyri and E-Branch conduct what should be their final battle. But in the world of the Necroscope, nothing, not even death...or undeath...is necessarily forever.
And as always, the future is a devious thing.
May 31, 2018
Harry Keogh is dead, but his spirit lives on and in order to continue to help E-Branch. he needs to recruit a new Necroscope.
Jake is a troubled man, one who seems to always be on the wrong side of things and his attitude is one that comes from experience. This kind of spirit is just what Harry needs.
When it is discovered that 3 Wamphyri have made it through one of the gates, it will take everyone they can get to try to stop them from taking over humankind.
A fiery confrontation is at the forefront of this installment and it continues to drive this story forward.
Jake is a troubled man, one who seems to always be on the wrong side of things and his attitude is one that comes from experience. This kind of spirit is just what Harry needs.
When it is discovered that 3 Wamphyri have made it through one of the gates, it will take everyone they can get to try to stop them from taking over humankind.
A fiery confrontation is at the forefront of this installment and it continues to drive this story forward.
February 9, 2020
I was so looking forward to start reading the new adventures of Harry Keogh and get acquainted with Jake Cutter, as the Necroscope Series has been an all time favorite of mine for many, MANY years now. But I have to say that it wasn't as great as I was expecting it to be, I'm afraid. Still a great read, as Brian Lumley can do no wrong in my eyes (well, politics aside, that is.) I started Defilers and I'm hoping it kicks into high gear right away. Fingers crossed.
December 17, 2023
Oh it was amazing!
This was my first book in Necroscope series, and I literally don't know how amazing other cycles. I bought this book and do not know anythig about author and series! But I'm so impressive! Can't wait to star another book in E-Branch threelogy!
There was all what I searched and love in books: ugly, but clever monsters not less clever humans, deep personalitys of characters, history of the world, fight of minds!
This was my first book in Necroscope series, and I literally don't know how amazing other cycles. I bought this book and do not know anythig about author and series! But I'm so impressive! Can't wait to star another book in E-Branch threelogy!
There was all what I searched and love in books: ugly, but clever monsters not less clever humans, deep personalitys of characters, history of the world, fight of minds!
November 18, 2020
well
prologue, first three chapters and three last chapters were awesome
the rest of the book lacked a loooooot of action
and it's a pity cause jake has the potential to be even more charming than harry!
prologue, first three chapters and three last chapters were awesome
the rest of the book lacked a loooooot of action
and it's a pity cause jake has the potential to be even more charming than harry!
February 10, 2024
It was mostly a very long, dry recap of the last 10 books with not much excitement or surprises. Introduction of 2 new characters was spattered throughout the long recap but all that could’ve been told in a dozen pages or so. I am usually a fan of Lumley but this book was a slog
June 14, 2025
Same old story. No Harry (well a few scenes ) so we are introduced to yet another Necroscope. Nice to have a story that is based around the E Branch characters but the story has been done before and better in the original books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2019
Absolutely loved this.
July 5, 2024
This was ok. Creepy atmosphere is great until the book goes on too long.
April 20, 2020
Not my favorite in the series.
The story was kind of forced. There was not much going on. Lumley spent too much time with dialogue and not enough time with the adventure of the story. Some of it was not very convincing. This is the first time I've read a Necroscope book that felt kind of hurried and cheap. Kind of like when you see a crappy low budget sci do film. I've read all the Necroscope books so I am going to try the next book in the instalment but if its this bad then I'm going to kill my love affair with the Necroscope books.
The story was kind of forced. There was not much going on. Lumley spent too much time with dialogue and not enough time with the adventure of the story. Some of it was not very convincing. This is the first time I've read a Necroscope book that felt kind of hurried and cheap. Kind of like when you see a crappy low budget sci do film. I've read all the Necroscope books so I am going to try the next book in the instalment but if its this bad then I'm going to kill my love affair with the Necroscope books.
Read
November 20, 2018Three great vampires--two Lords and a Lady--arrive on an unsuspecting Earth that teems with defenseless humans, easy prey for the marauding vampires. But humanity has defenders. Though the necroscope is gone, the psychically gifted men and women of E-Branch move swiftly against the vampire infestation.
Jake Cutter is running for his life through the streets of Turin when he vanishes, appearing moments later inside the triply locked "Harry's room" in E-Branch's London HQ. Jake's dreams are very strange, filled with the voices of the dead--the Great majority, the Necroscope, Harry Keogh, even a dead vampire. He hears them all, but he doesn't truly understand.
If Jake is the new Necroscope, he has to learn--fast!--how to control his powers and speak to the dead. E-Branch, with the reluctant Jake along for the ride, is about to go head-to-head with Malinari the Mind, a vampire Lord who psychic abilities are second to none.
But the dead don't trust Jake, not like they trusted Harry. Jake's got personal revenge on his mind, and he's spending too much time talking that dead vampire. He's got to start thinking about the future--or he won't have one!
From Publishers WeeklyVast in scope and overripe with extraordinary characters and incidents, Lumleys proliferating Necroscope saga almost mandates a book-length reference companion. This new novel, the 11th in the series (after Resurgence, 1996) and the first in an offshoot trilogy, carries on the tradition in fine form, but also shows the problems inherent in keeping the increasingly byzantine intrigues of these horror/espionage hybrids accessible to new readers. During an explosive start, in which psychic agents of the hard-working E- (short for ESP) Branch smoke out a nest of vampires in the Australian desert, the novel introduces Jake Cutter, another of Lumleys gutsy populist heroes. Jake has been delivered to the paranormal intelligence unit by the ghost of Harry Keogh, the original Necroscope, who foresees a future clash between Jake and a vampire trio wreaking havoc on Earth. Harrys discorporate consciousness takes up residence in Jakes mind, but Jake is totally ignorant of the vampire invaders from the alternate universe of Sunside/Starside and the long-running war that left Harry (and, by proxy, Jake) infected with their taint. This necessitates a lengthy and tedious history of events from the preceding novels, recounted to Jake by both mortals and monsters in multiple chapters of straight exposition. Granted, Lumleys characters are a lively bunch, but none tell the story as excitingly as he does, and the result is not unlike sitting down at the dinner table with a hearty appetite and hearing about a sumptuous banquet someone else attended. A climactic encounter with the vampire Nephran Malinari in his aerie in the Australian mountains gets the action roaring again by the storys finale, and with luck heralds the end of the laborious updates.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Lumley continues his popular series of vampire thrillers with the first book in a prospective trilogy. Jake Cutter is in line to succeed the late Harry Keogh as the Necroscope, or leading finder-hunter of vampires. Jake has his own agenda, however, and a troubled personal history, which make E-Branch more than a trifle uncertain about taking him on, until it becomes clear that the most powerful of three Wamphyri newly loose on Earth has set up business in Australia and needs to be stopped--yesterday! Lumley has firmly staked out the territory of the vampire thriller, much as Anne Rice has that of vampire erotica, and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro that of the vampire historical romance. This book is a good place to start Lumley's Necroscope saga. Oh, some of its most gripping sequences (e.g., the invasion of the three Wamphyri lords and the enslavement of Korath Mindthrall) are told indirectly, which somewhat diminishes their emotional impact, but the action climax is a corker. Roland Green
June 26, 2015
It Begins Again
Invaders is the first book of the E-Branch Trilogy in which we are introduced to new vampires and a new necroscope who is bad at math.
Because of this there is a lot of introductory material for the new characters. Most of it relayed through histories either from files provided by E-branch to Jake Cutter's introduction to deadspeak by Harry Keogh, during the development of the villainous vampires we also have loose ends from the last trilogy tied up and finished.
The vampires are as violent and evil as always. There are three new vampires you are introduced to as villains, and one relevant to Jake Cutter as necroscope. The vampires are Nephram Malinari, the primary villain of this book, Vavara, and Szwarts with the dead vampire Korath doing the math for Jake Cutter. Among the three the most I look forward to reading about in the remaining two books is Szwarts.
The writing is well done, Lumley has always been good at character development and providing the reader with a connection and investment in the characters.
There are several flashbacks, either via dossier or deadspeak that slowed things down at times but anyone that knows how Lumley writes should expect slow points because he pays an enormous attention to detail.
One being the scientific explanation of the vampire biology. Anyone who loves Lovecraftian based mythology will love this.
The end is unexpected and in classic Lumley style intense, grotesque and once you get to the climax you have to finish the book and leaves you wanting to read the next.
I recommend Brian Lumley's books to everyone. But with the understanding that these aren't your fast paced horror/ thriller books, they are well thought out, complex sci-fi, horror novels that are definitely worth the read.
Invaders is the first book of the E-Branch Trilogy in which we are introduced to new vampires and a new necroscope who is bad at math.
Because of this there is a lot of introductory material for the new characters. Most of it relayed through histories either from files provided by E-branch to Jake Cutter's introduction to deadspeak by Harry Keogh, during the development of the villainous vampires we also have loose ends from the last trilogy tied up and finished.
The vampires are as violent and evil as always. There are three new vampires you are introduced to as villains, and one relevant to Jake Cutter as necroscope. The vampires are Nephram Malinari, the primary villain of this book, Vavara, and Szwarts with the dead vampire Korath doing the math for Jake Cutter. Among the three the most I look forward to reading about in the remaining two books is Szwarts.
The writing is well done, Lumley has always been good at character development and providing the reader with a connection and investment in the characters.
There are several flashbacks, either via dossier or deadspeak that slowed things down at times but anyone that knows how Lumley writes should expect slow points because he pays an enormous attention to detail.
One being the scientific explanation of the vampire biology. Anyone who loves Lovecraftian based mythology will love this.
The end is unexpected and in classic Lumley style intense, grotesque and once you get to the climax you have to finish the book and leaves you wanting to read the next.
I recommend Brian Lumley's books to everyone. But with the understanding that these aren't your fast paced horror/ thriller books, they are well thought out, complex sci-fi, horror novels that are definitely worth the read.
February 2, 2015
This is the beginning of E-Branch trilogy within the Necroscope series and it's a mess. It starts out good, then becomes decent, then okay and by the end I was just more or less skimming.
It follows Jake Cutter, whom Harry has chosen to bestow his abilities upon, and several recurring characters from E-Branch like Ben Trask and Ian Goodly, as they battle more Wamphyri escaped from Starside/Sunside.
Too much time is spent recapping what happened in the previous books, though why I'm not sure since I can't imagine anyone saying "Hey, I've heard good things about this series - I think I'll start at this book since it's nowhere near the beginning!" I understand that Jake is very new to E-Branch and needs to be brought up to speed but do those of us who already know all this stuff need to read along with Jake as he goes through the E-Branch dossiers?
After the recapping from the earlier books is finished, a lot of new background information relevant to what is currently happening in the book is also told in recap fashion, which removes all the drama and is frankly a bit of a chore to get through.
Once the action starts moving forward again, it feels like a rinse/repeat of the previous books with a finale that came across as very trite.
Too bad - all the previous books had been pretty good to stellar.
It follows Jake Cutter, whom Harry has chosen to bestow his abilities upon, and several recurring characters from E-Branch like Ben Trask and Ian Goodly, as they battle more Wamphyri escaped from Starside/Sunside.
Too much time is spent recapping what happened in the previous books, though why I'm not sure since I can't imagine anyone saying "Hey, I've heard good things about this series - I think I'll start at this book since it's nowhere near the beginning!" I understand that Jake is very new to E-Branch and needs to be brought up to speed but do those of us who already know all this stuff need to read along with Jake as he goes through the E-Branch dossiers?
After the recapping from the earlier books is finished, a lot of new background information relevant to what is currently happening in the book is also told in recap fashion, which removes all the drama and is frankly a bit of a chore to get through.
Once the action starts moving forward again, it feels like a rinse/repeat of the previous books with a finale that came across as very trite.
Too bad - all the previous books had been pretty good to stellar.
October 24, 2013
This book may be the worse thing to happen to vampires since Twilight...although this was written before Twilight....so maybe Stella (Bella?) and what's his name still wins the award for suckiest vampire story ever....
I read the first Necroscope novel when I was a kid. It was a great and fascinating look at vampires, the dead, and ESP.
A few years later, Lumley wanted to continue on his work and made a New Necroscope trilogy. I was excited as I picked it up, but I must say that the luster is gone.
Gone is the horrible mystery of the vampires and the Necroscope. The reader already knows too much. Gone is the great drama of Harry Keogh and his struggle against the undead. Gone is the almost believable world of a CIA like organization that deals with ESP.
We are reduced to this story. I understand this is the beginning of a new trilogy and the author had to go through some background. But almost the entire book is flashback.
The writing is sub-par, especially compared with his earlier work. It is at leas accessible, so you won't be terribly confused with what is going on...just bored.
I was terribly bored with this one and don't think I will continue with the rest of the trilogy.
I can't recommend this book to anyone.
Grade: D
I read the first Necroscope novel when I was a kid. It was a great and fascinating look at vampires, the dead, and ESP.
A few years later, Lumley wanted to continue on his work and made a New Necroscope trilogy. I was excited as I picked it up, but I must say that the luster is gone.
Gone is the horrible mystery of the vampires and the Necroscope. The reader already knows too much. Gone is the great drama of Harry Keogh and his struggle against the undead. Gone is the almost believable world of a CIA like organization that deals with ESP.
We are reduced to this story. I understand this is the beginning of a new trilogy and the author had to go through some background. But almost the entire book is flashback.
The writing is sub-par, especially compared with his earlier work. It is at leas accessible, so you won't be terribly confused with what is going on...just bored.
I was terribly bored with this one and don't think I will continue with the rest of the trilogy.
I can't recommend this book to anyone.
Grade: D
July 21, 2016
There are about two hundred pages of pure dialogue in the middle of this book. Most of the dialogues are repeated. There is a pretty big plot hole that occurs in regards to the main character and one I shall label the guide that doesn't get resolved. However, even with my issues when the suspense is occurring at the beginning and after the windy dialogue it is very well done. To the author's credit this is the first of the necroscope series I have read (this is the only book of the series either of my local libraries carry, and I couldn't find any copies of the others at book stores nearby), so that may have been the cause of most of my problems. So, with that being said there are some pretty creative twists to the vampire genre in this book that are worth looking into.
October 26, 2012
Again, Lumley returns to the universe of the Necroscope and the Whampiri. If you loved the great many sequels that came after Necroscope I then you will probably love these three. However, despite liking the story immensely I noticed two problems: firstly, not having red every previous Lumley book in this universe, some characters and references were a mystery, spoiling the story in places; secondly, it suffers from defeating-evil-at-the-end-syndrome (a nasty practice of having nigh indestructible great evils from before time defeated by unfeasible means).
May 25, 2016
This is another decent entry in the series, although it does get a little wordy. as in, many long winded dialogues monologing. thats fine ocassionally but it does it quite often. don't want to spoil it too much but this takes place closer to our modern times (ish) and is essentially where the wamphyri (vampires) are being dealt with on Earth. essentially the 'problem' has been resolved on starside but not earth. I'll give the writer credit here as he manages to still come out with a compelling story eleven books into it but you do begin to feel it waning a little, just a little mind :)
September 30, 2015
It took me way too long to finish this book. The most interesting stuff happened in the last 10 pages. I didn't give this book lower than 3 stars because it does set up a lot of stuff for the next book and if you hadn't read the blood brothers trilogy, you might need some set up. I thought that the first section of the book gave plenty of back info. I think this book could have been less series history, and more Story. I have higher hopes for the next book Defilers.
May 6, 2017
I wanted to love this book. I really wanted to. Sadly, I am having to just throw in the towel here. That's sad because this is now the third Necroscope book I haven't been able to get into. And I tried, have made three lengthy attempts just this year to read this. Time to move on.
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