Dracul by Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker

Admission: I’ve read Bram Stoker’s Dracula three times throughout my life and I still don’t like it. I find that it drags. But Dracul looked so enticing, I had to give it a go. I was not disappointed.

While Dracul is written in the vein (pun intended) of Dracula, I found it to be much more interesting. Its gothic atmosphere and slow build worked in its favor, making it eerie fun. The authors chose to follow firmly in the Dracula mythos, eschewing Anne Rice’s additions to the genre (she’s a brilliant author, by the way).

Why did I enjoy this book, when I don’t like Dracula? Honestly, I think it’s because the female characters in this book have spunk. They aren’t helpless at all, and they move the story along. In fact, without Ellen, there would be no story.

The switch-off between different character’s points of view was a fascinating choice, and the fact that some parts were told as letters made it easy for pertinent information to be included without boring the reader to death (again-pun intended. I’m having way too much fun with this).

I found the Author’s Note at the end to be extremely interesting. It talked a lot about the Stokers, and gave the most enthralling information. If you enjoyed The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, chances are you’ll want to sink your teeth (Bwahaha!) into Dracul.

I included a picture of the author bios below because Dacre Stoker’s was so interesting. Have you read this book? What did you think?