This was an okay - companion book? prequel? - to Bram Stoker's classic Dracula, which I read (for the first time) before reading this book. Dracula was okay (there was a lot of gratuitous gore, which wasn't for me). This book follows Bram Stoker and chronicles events that led inspiration to his classic, Dracula.

Good Halloween read.

I originally could not get into Dracul, but I've recently been trying to re-read books that are on my "did not finish" list and Dracul was one I finally got into. One my second attempt I found Dracul interesting and enthralling. I would recommend Dracul for any fans of classic horror or, specifically Dracula.

Loved this book. Such a wonderful story. Love how it synched with Dracula. I could not stop reading it. The back story from Bram Stokers ariginal idea was used perfectly. The characters were so real feeling. You can tell a lot of love went into this book.

This was such a great read. I am re reading it for October. Definitely a must for Dracula fans and horror fans

This was good but didn’t necessarily grab me. I’m glad I read it and have a few library patrons in mind to recommend it to.

DRACUL is a haunting and revelatory story in the Dracula mythos. Drawing from actual documents of Bram Stoker, J.D. Barker and Dacre Stoker manage to create a historical thriller that adds a fascinating new story to fans of the original. Written in a fast, accessible style, DRACUL aims and succeeds in being genuine to history buffs and fun enough to delight modern readers.

So, for some reason NetGalley requires me to leave a rating and review on my own titles. Very odd. But if I don't, my overall feedback ratio appears inaccurately low.

If you are an author or publisher seeking a review/blurb from me, please note I only provide those on the books I enjoy and read cover-to-cover. If I don't give you one, it doesn't mean there was a problem with the book, it simply means the book wasn't for me.

*4.5 'scare me to death' stars rounded up! The book's dedication tells it all:

'For all those who know monsters are real.'

I am a sucker for any thrillers written by J.D Barker and this prequel to Dracula doesn't disappoint. Using the Stoker family records, journals and texts, Barker and Dacre Stoker, the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, reveal the story of how the horror all began for Bram and his family.

Bram is a sickly child who is nursed by a nanny they call Ellen Crone, who unpredictably comes and goes from their lives. Her cures for Bram seem to work where the doctors are miserably failing. When he is seven though, she disappears altogether but she leaves Bram with some rather unique abilities.

Years later, we see Bram single-handedly fighting off the Dark Side, as he guards a tower room. Slowly the story of how he finds himself there is revealed through his journal entries.

Gothic and delicious, the atmospheric dread in the story builds and builds. Who to trust? How can he fight this evil? Terrific horror story that is a worthy prequel to the original classic tale.

I received an arc of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I apologize for the delay in doing so.

In this prequel to Bram Stoker's <em>Dracula</em>, co-written by Bram Stoker's great-grand-nephew, Dacre Stoker, and J.D. Barker, the authors not only give us a little background on Dracula the vampire, but they make Bram Stoker a major character along the way. And according to the advertising copy, this is "inspired by notes and texts left behind by (Bram Stoker)."

Bram was a sickly child since birth. He and his sister, Matilda, had a nanny by the name of Ellen Crone ('Nanna Ellen'). "The peculiarities of Ellen Crone. That is, of course, where I should start, for this is as much her story as it is mine, perhaps more so. This woman, this monster, this wraith, this friend, this … being," writes Bram - the opening lines of his journal in the first chapter. But I might disagree, because this is very much Bram's story, though Nanna Ellen plays a major role in developing Bram's interest in the vampire story.

The Stoker's - a family of some means - bring a doctor in to see if he can help the sickly young Bram, but to little success. When the nanny, Ellen Crone, looks after Bram (and his sister), the young boy has a normal youth's energy. The siblings notice strange behavior on Ellen's part. For instance, sometimes Nanna Ellen looks quite young, but then days later, maybe a week or so at the most, she appears quite old.

Then one day, Ellen just disappears. It is years later, when Matilda is studying in Paris, that she sees Ellen - who appears not to have aged - and she reports this to Bram, which sets off his hunt for answers.

Like the original <em>Dracula</em> novel, this is told through multiple forms, including Bram's journals (told in first person), and a "today" narrative (told in third person).

This changing of perspectives threw me for a loop at first. Reading in one narrative and then switching just feels awkward. But the more I got into this book, the more I actually appreciated this change as it reminded when the narrative was taking place.

While I've been a fan of the Dracula/vampire theme since I was in middle school, I was a little hesitant to request and read this. Having a distant relative of Bram Stoker listed as co-author seemed like such a gimmick and I wondered how good the book could actually be. Fortunately, the writing is sharp and quite reminiscent of <em>Dracula</em> in its Gothic horror sort of way, but with enough modern edge to the writing to keep today's readers engaged.

I'm no <em>Dracula</em> scholar, but I did pick up on a few nods to the original book throughout.

I definitely enjoyed this more than I thought I would (maybe that's partly because I recently read a terrible 'vampire' novel), and I believe that even if I didn't already have a strong interest in the Dracula/vampire concept, this is precisely the sort of horror/dark fantasy novel I would enjoy.

Looking for a good book? <em>Dracul</em>, by Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker is a prequel to Bram Stoker's <em>Dracula</em>, with Bram himself as the leading character, and it is well worth reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Wild journey and sequel. Hoping for another book from this author (who apparently is related to the great Bram!)

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I do have to confess that I struggled with this book.
The first third had me really invested but after that my interest descended drastically to the point when I finally kind of had to encourage myself to finish it. I think this was mostly due to the lack of balance between the two story lines, one of them past, one of them present. From my point of view the past one, mostly narrated from letters and diary entries, drags quite a lot making the action less dynamic. On the other hand, the present one, although has more action and movement, it takes place during one night, so it makes a very acute contrast between them making them quite unbalanced.

I feel that both first and second parts were much longer than the third. And I would even say that the third feels rushed in contrast. Personally, although I get that you can’t really cut of parts of the story, it felt really slow. And I am very used to read slow books per se, but I think in this case it made me progressively loose interest in the plot.

Please, don’t get me wrong, the books is very well written. I think I found it very uncomfortable to read it on a ereader, as I usually read on paper. But this fact, added to the slow development of the plot made it easy for me to lose interest in the story.

The book is mostly narrated from Bram Stoker point of view, which I found really interesting. It starts when he was a child and goes toward his adult life. Some of his siblings also have quite a lot of protagonism in the book, and I quite enjoyed his sister, Matilda. I absolutely enjoyed how fiction and history are woven together.

If you are looking for a prequel to Dracula, this is not what you will find here. At least from my point of view. I have read, and love, Dracula multiple times and I can see the connection that the author did, quite ruched, at the end. We are indeed in front of the same type of vampire that Dracula presented us, if you are looking for a modernised version of the Count, this is not it, as it drink straight from the source. On the other side, the writing style is very different as so are the plot and the main focus of the story that I found very lacking in comparison to the good old classic.

So if you are in love with the myth, give it a try. But if you are looking for a gothic, thrilling and dark story I would not recommend it.

I have held off on this review for a long time because I didn't like it. Dracula is one of my favorite gothic horror characters and for some reason this story didn't do anything for me.

Very good and tense read! I'm in no way a fan of Dracula but I feel like giving it a second chance after this book. Thank you to the publisher for a copy of the book to review!

This prequel sets up Dracula as an autobiographical tale as we get inside the mind of Bram Stoker. The book alternates between his earlier childhood diaries and his journaling in the "present" time - the latter time and place is not revealed to us until some time into the story.

Definitely a freaky book and not one to read before bed (I should know better by now). Some confusing plot points in understanding how they all relate to the overall story but a great read all in all

I am a huge fan Stoker's Dracula. I love the style of the work itself, the characters and the language. In this, we are given an origin story essentially. Bram, as a young boy is sickly, through the care of Ellen, he somehow survives. Over the years, he and his sister Matilda are trying to understand the mysterious connection Ellen had that kept Bram alive. It's told in a similar fashion as Dracula, in an almost epistolary style. Letters drive much of the story, but we do get some dialogue as well. This did feel very similar in plot to Dracula here and there, letting this easily feel like a prequel. I don't know what it was, but something about the style just wasn't the same. I did enjoy the story as is. I don't know if I'll read more, but I might.

This book was good. I think it did justice to Dracula! Would definitely buy or gift this book to a lover of all things dark.

Maybe I'm a terrible bibliophile for never have actually read Dracula but, like with most people, have seen the countless different vampire movies - most impressively so, Bram Stoker's Dracula, which you should never watch from the first row of the theater because you WILL get dizzy. In any case, I was expecting a bit slow of a read and that is what I got. But, I did find myself feeling that same atmosphere - the dark, foggy, whispering buzz of the night.


This book starts of pretty strong - I was racing through the journal entries just to get back to the backstory because this is where my interest was piqued the most. I wanted to continue on the journey with the children. Notice what they notice, find the courage with them to go looking around so they could get answers. And once things started to really change and my interest was at it's all time high for the story - we get to part II and..... my interest started waning. While I know the story was progressing, I started to feel it was a big stagnant.

I can absolutely appreciate what this novel was doing and I did find it very intriguing to see the origins of the book and Dracula. I think just for my personal taste, I needed it to move a little faster. This isn't a knock on the book itself though because I knew what I was walking into when I started. I think that because I was surprised with the pacing at the beginning, that it started to feel a little disjointed towards the end.

I wonder too - just how much does the author(s) really think is true and if there is a solid belief, I'm fascinated by it because of the history of vampirism and the way people looked upon it. What do you start to make real to further your cause/belief and what actually happens that we're blissfully unaware except for when we want to escape in movies and books?

ARC via NetGalley

I enjoyed the original, but this book seems to take forever that I would put it down and forget to pick it up again. It took me nine months to muster through this because I was more or less intrigued. It needed a good editor and probably in epistolary form because it just didn't work like the original.

I loved (LOVED!) this story. Matter of fact, this will probably be one of the rare ones that I re-read.

I wasn't a huge Dracula fan, but something about this book really intrigued me. I found the imagery used in the book to be well constructed and so vivid. The story was written so well I really didn't want it to end. If you loved Dracula, then you HAVE to read this novel.

I really enjoyed this new take on an old favorite. If you are looking for something in the same style and caliber as the original, you might be disappointed. Dacre certainly has his own style, so as long as you realize that going into it, you will probably enjoy it.