Blood to Blood

Dracula Continues #2

by Elaine Bergstrom

Blood to The Dracula Story Continues

Genres: Vampires, Horror, Fiction, Ebooks, Paranormal, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

309 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Elaine Bergstrom is a Milwaukee-based novelist whose writing melds vampire, romance, mystery and, always, suspense.

Her first published piece of fiction was her first novel, Shattered Glass (1989). It introduced the character of the immortal Stephen Austra and artist Helen Wells, a victim of polio, along with Stephen's family of vampires who are “born not created and have an abhorrance for coffins, particulary their own.” The novel was a critical success, a consistent favorite with readers of adult-oriented vampire fiction. Bergstrom has written six novels in the Austra series, including Daughter of the Night, which featured Elizabeth Bathory as a half-breed Austra vampire. Beyond Sundown, the newest book in the Austra series, released early in 2011. The Violin, a novella, in 2012. Most are in print. All are available on Amazon kindle or through the author's website www.elainebergstrom.com

Using her grandmother's name, Marie Kiraly, Bergstrom wrote a sequel to Dracula called Mina ... The Dracula Story Continues, and its sequel, Blood to Blood ... The Dracula Story Continues, which both look at Mina Harker as a woman changed by her experience in Transylvania, struggling to find her way in the repressive Victorian society. Both were featured in the Science Fiction Book Club and Doubleday Book Club.

For the novel Madeline ... After the Fall of Usher, she adopted Poe’s journalistic style to tell a story in which the details of the last few months of Poe’s life are correct, with her own fictional story overlaid on them.


J. Gordon Melton (The Vampire Encyclopedia) notes that Shattered Glass contains "one of the most horrific scenes in vampire literature." (less)

Reviews

[Michelle Patrizio Bahr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book takes Humans and Vampires and flips them, that not all Gods creatures are good and that not all Devil creatures are bad. First half was boring, that I lost interest, but later came back to finish it. The Only parts I liked were when the twist happened and I realized what this book was about. 3 quarters of the way through. Yep this review is 20 years after the book was published.

[Tracy Smyth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the sequel to Mina and I didn’t really enjoy it. I have enjoyed other books by this author but not this one.

[Tricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am really not sure what to make of this. I usually don't mind this author and the Astra family of vampires. This however was not as good. Also it is a bit weird that the first book of the series is published under a pen name of hers.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a continuation of the Mina Harker story that began in Mina: The Dracula Story Continues. The story begins where the previous ends with Mina in Paris writing to Jonathan about a reconciliation when she receives news of an inheritance, and a sizable one at that. I find the story an interesting interpretation about a Victorian woman whose independence is pursued in societal times when women were seen and not heard. For Mina to be so bold as to maintain her own household away from her husband and pursue her charitable work is really unheard of.

This book is a side-by-side story of Mina and Jonathan, but also about Joanna, Dracula's sister. We find Dracula's sister searching for her brother's killers only to find that being released from her brother's control that she can pursue her own life. The excitement is found in reading about what she chooses. Does she choose to live among humans and love and care for them just the same? Or become a ruthless killer and evil pursuer like her sister in-law and sometimes her brother, Dracula.

The author folds in true historical characters as Oscar Wilde and Jack The Ripper. The author includes Jack The Ripper to challenge the reader to determine if the murders are really the work of Joanna or The Ripper himself...and who is The Ripper?

I am surprised though by the amount of edit errors in this book. They weren't so severe that I couldn't figure out what the author meant to write, but the author should be paid a bonus for the editors poor work.

My blog: http://cbbookreviews.blogspot.com/

[Ethan Nahté · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting follow up to the first book, "Mina." Bergstrom does a fine job of splitting the main characters up so they each have their peril or issue to deal with, only to reunite them after the troublesome issues related to the first book. Mina and Jonathan are trying to decide whether or not to rekindle their love while Arthur pines for the loss of Lucy to Dracula and then by his own hand with the assistance of Van Helsing. Now Arthur risks his life and the lives of his friends as he entices Dracula's sister, Joanna, so he can better understand the vampires in a potentially deadly game, for she is new to the modern world and to being alone.

Meanwhile, another acquaintance, Dr. Rhys, knows something about the Ripper-like murders happening about London. Joanna and her ingenue come across the killer one time too many and Joanna's focus for revenge changes.

Overall, the story is well-written and engaging. I'm not much of one for HEA or HFN (Happily Ever After or Happy for Now) endings, but it fits the characters in "Blood to Blood"

[Jimyanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a sequel to "Mina", which was written, apparently, under the pseudonym of "Marie Kiraly", while this one bears the name of "Elaine Bergstom", which is apparently the author's true name. "Mina" was an exploration of "what happened to the Harkers and company after the end of the book 'Dracula'?" It was a better-than-fair story, told in a voice sufficiently reminiscent of Stoker's to ring true. Thi9s one begins from a somewhat dubious proposition -- that in spite of being staked and burned, Dracula's three "brides" are not all necessarily truly dead -- and is told in a much more modern style than "Mina" was. In spite of these things, it is a fine story, well-crafted and gripping. In many ways, it is actually a better story than "Mina", I recommend it highly.

[Jaynera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this with a passion.

[wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

much better than i thought it would be. all the typos made me a bit nuts though.