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Dacre Stoker
Ian Holt
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Media
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Book
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Publisher | Harper | ||
ISBN | 978-000731034 | ||
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Reviewer
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Gareth
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The official sequel to Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula, written by his direct descendent and endorsed by the Stoker family. The story begins in 1912, twenty-five years after the events described in the original novel. Dr. Jack Seward, now a disgraced morphine addict, hunts vampires across Europe with the help of a mysterious benefactor. Meanwhile, Quincey Harker, the grown son of Jonathan and Mina, leaves law school to pursue a career in stage at London's famous Lyceum Theatre. The production of Dracula at the Lyceum, directed and produced by Bram Stoker, has recently lost its star. Luckily, Quincey knows how to contact the famed Hungarian actor Basarab, who agrees to take the lead role. Quincey soon discovers that the play features his parents and their former friends as characters, and seems to reveal much about the terrible secrets he's always suspected them of harbouring. But, before he can confront them, Jonathan Harker is found murdered. The writers were able to access Bram Stoker's hand-written notes and have included in their story characters and plot threads that had been excised by the publisher from the original printing over a century ago. Dracula is one of the most recognized fictional characters in the world, having spawned dozens of multi-media spin-offs. The Un-Dead is the first Dracula story to enjoy the full support of the Stoker estate since the original 1931 movie starring Bela Lugosi.
Review
A rollercoaster ride of a novel successfully marrying Bram Stokers original manuscript with historical figures, such as Jack The Ripper and the infamous Countess Bathory. (for those un-enlightened souls, Countess Bathory was the basis of the 1971 film "Countess Dracula" starring Ingrid Pitt) Dacre and Holt manage to pull off, what could be considered, the impossible - crafting a plausible and enlightened sequel to one of the most popular of all horror stories of all time. Everyone knows of Dracula through the myriad films and novelisation's, but very few of them stay true to the original source novel. Dacre Stoker - the great-grand nephew of Bram Stoker - and Ian Holt set the record straight setting the sequel 25 years after the last novel ended.
This is a well researched book and attempts to put Dracula in a historical context - even going so far as to include Bram Stoker, himself, and name check Inspector Abberline - who originally investigated the Ripper murders. It also adds a lot more context to the characters, giving them a credible backstory as well as providing much needed explanation to Dracula's motives. That's probably the thing that stood out most for me is that for the first time we actually understand Dracula's motivations and Dacre and Holt are able to shed a great deal of light on this enigmatic character who, for too long, has been shrouded in the dark.

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