Book Review :: DRACULAS

DRACULAS (A Novel of Terror) (Kindle Edition)
by Blake Crouch, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson
DraculasTheBook.com


I had the privilege of getting an advanced copy of this book to read, as long as I provided a review on the day it was available for purchase.  I've been following J.A. Konrath's blog, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, for some time now, and jumped at the chance to do this "preview and review" opportunity.  It's not every day that one gets the opportunity to read a book co-written by four people.  The addition of the DVD-like bonus materials really is icing on the cake to looking at a new style of publication.



The plot itself is pretty easy to follow.  We're not talking graduate-level dissertation here.  Rich, older man is dying of cancer.  Rich older man hires gorgeous biological anthropologist to procure a cure for his cancer.  Enter the mysterious and improbable "Dracula skull", which rich older man clamps around his own neck... and becomes a gruesome draculombie [my  term, not from the book], an almost zombie-like vampire out of the horrors of one's nightmares.  In a hospital.  Where people get infected like girls getting beads at Mardi Gras for showing off their boobs.  Doctor, nurses, patients, visitors, clowns, cops, EMTs, old, young, men, women.  Apparently, no one is safe from the vampire virus.  Chaos, blood and gore ensue for the remainder of the book.

To put it bluntly, DRACULAS is not your typical vampire novel.  Not in the slightest.  It's incredibly gory -- not that it bothered me personally -- and it's actually quite humorous to me.  Particularly the first couple of sections by young Oasis.  I don't know that all of the humor I found in this story was necessarily intended by the authors, but I couldn't help myself.  And I am NEVER going to look at red jelly beans the same way again!  But I must say that the book ends on a... well, an almost anti-climactic ending.  I say almost because I wanted more.  I want a sequel.  Luckily, it appears that there's going to be a sequel in 2011.  I'll certainly be looking for that one!

I did find it utterly fascinating that this book was written without chapters.  Rather, the structure of the story was loosely strung around changing POVs from various characters in the book.  This fascinated me because I tend to write in the same style of changing POVs.  Each character was whole enough for me not to confuse who was "in control" of each section.  And as mentioned above, my favorite POVs were the early ones from young Oasis.  The POVs from the various draculombies were the most fascinating, particularly those of Moorecook.  Outside of Jenny and Moorecook, I wasn't really all that drawn to many of the characters, which is an issue for me.

Admittedly, I have not yet gotten to the bonus materials in any great depth, but find the following quite interesting from a writer's POV :: Interview with Crouch, Konrath, Strand, and Wilson; Draculas Deleted and Alternate Scenes; and Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Making of Draculas.  The other bonus materials look interesting, and I am curious to read the various stories and excerpts because I don't think I've ever actually read anything written by these men.  I actually hope I like some of their works, and will definitely support their careers if I do.

Overall, this book rates a very solid 4 out of 5 for me.  And I'll certainly be recommending it to my horror-loving friends...