This was a creepy historical fiction mystery that will stick with you long after you finish the novel.
It is basically a retelling of Dracula by Bram Stoker, but that didn't bother me, I still really enjoyed the characters and the horror elements.

Sadly didn't like it as much as I was holding too, it reminded me way to much of Dracula which is one of my all time favorite books to read .

I adore Dracula by Bram Stoker, so it's no surprise I had to give this a go. Gothic, eery atmosphere is *chefs kiss*. Writing is really good, I loved seeing the story unravel through letters and journal entries. A really well-done horror.

Big thanks to NetGalley and TCK publishing!

As others have noted The Devil's Whispers by Lucas Hault is like a love letter to the gothic stories of the past in particular Bram Stoker's Dracula and succeeds on many levels. I found it to be an overall good read and think that the language and style while possibly off-putting to some served it very well.
This is also another of those books that I could have sworn I had already reviewed and plan on rereading it to rewrite the review a little better.
Once again, thank you to #NetGalley, #TCKPublishing, and Lucas Hault for the ARC of #TheDevil'sWhispers.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A good horror novel. Perfect for Halloween Month 🎃

A really creepy and interesting read! I love anything sort of paranormal and creepy as hell like this one so I knew it wouldn’t disappoint!!

1.5 stars 🌟

I've never read Dracula. I am, of course, familiar with the story, but my opinion of this book isn't swayed either way by the original work. It unfortunately just wasn't my cup of tea.

I adore books that are written all in letters and journal entries. The writing is very clean and the author does definitely succeed in giving off that eerie feeling of unease throughout the book, which is a huge feat. I also love the time period and the language used.

I really wanted to enjoy it more but, overall, the story just wasn't for me. I also found myself confused a fair bit of the time and some things seemed to be repeated again and again.

I definitely wanted more of that castle!

It is obvious from the start that the author is heavily influenced by Bram Stoker, it is essentially an up to date Dracula. That being said I still really enjoyed the book.

Classic gothic horror set in a creepy Welsh castle.

The characters all have similar personalities which makes them blend together at times.

Overall I enjoyed the book and after I got through the slow burn of the first few chapters the story picked up pace and I struggled to put it down.

“The Devil’s Whispers“ is an unexpected, interesting read with multi narrators adding complexity to the storyline. I enjoyed this tale, however, found myself often having to re-read some sections as it did not quite flow as flawlessly as I would have like.

A sincere thank you to NetGalley and TCK publishing for providing me a copy of “The Devil’s Wisper” in exchange for an honest review. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read this story and leave my review voluntarily.

It was as if I read again Bram Stoker's Dracula but with new elements. The writing style is the same, action, horror elements and lots of vampires.
Thank you Netgallet for this book.

I sped through this book in two days. Every time I had to put it down I kept wanting to read more. In my shower I had little pockets on my shower liner and I sat my phone in there to keep reading while I showered. 4 stars. Will deff buy this book.

Although the story sounds familiar and many parallels can be drawn to the original Bram Stoker Dracula novel, this book still has merit. It is well written and the author evokes the atmosphere of a classic gothic horror story.

I love a good story with vampires in it, but I need some angst and forbidden romance thrown in with it. This story seemed to be a Dracula retelling. I felt that the characters needed some more personality to them for me to really care about them. This story was average - Which isn’t bad.

I actually read the description of this book; it really sounded like the opening of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. So, of course I had to check this book out.
The writing style is similar to how Dracula went; journal entires and letters to a lover back home. Actually, a lot of the this book was very similar to the old Gothic Horror. The solicitor visits an elderly noble figure. He is basically imprisoned at the castle, while the supernatural being and its minions travel to his hometown. During that time they seduce and captivate the fiancé and close people. Though, it was claimed that this story had nothing to do with vampires or werewolves, right from the beginning.
It reads slowly at first. But once you past most of Gerard’s trips exploring the castle things pick up. I was constantly trying to guess what supernatural creature was featured in this book. There were so many hints that had me ping ponging around trying to figure out which creature it might have been. Banshee - the ghostly woman that they kept witnessing in the woods and in the castle. A Changeling - the missing babies, and the young children that appeared different from normal. Demons - the creatures were held back by a crucifix and killed by a holy relic. It was very interesting to follow. And it was certainly interesting to read and learn about a supernatural creature not seen often in literature.
Anyone who likes Gothic Horror will probably find this book interesting. That doesn’t mean though that they will like this book. It has that old fashioned feel to it, and most of the elements that are attributed to this sub-genre. The setting took place in an old, dark castle. It featured an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. Not to mention the supernatural and romantic aspects of the story. The issues with this book though, is that it is extremely close to the Stoker’s infamous tale. Almost too close in my opinion. For some readers this book may be off putting because of that connection. Others may find this writing really slow. And others will fall in love with it as they may have Dracula.

Unfortunately I have DNF’d this book. I got about 20% into the book, but I am not enjoying the story and don’t feel like I want to finish this one. It’s not something I particularly enjoy.

This book is incredibly well written, I will give it that. The story is eerily similar to Dracula in my opinion.

Thank you to TCK Publishing, NetGalley and Lucas Hault for this copy!

Gerard Woodward, a young lawyer, is invited to Cardiff to the castle of Lord Ferdinand Elvin Mathers who is on his death bed. The old man wants to amend his will. Very soon, he realises that he is a prisoner, locked up in his room and not allowed to leave. Meanwhile, across London there are children being abducted. There’s an ape-like creature on the prowl. Can London be saved or will evil take over the land?



The book reminds us of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. All the details point in that direction. The adversaries acting in darkness, being afraid of sunlight, eating of rats, the bite marks. The only difference here is that the author has created a mythical creature of his own, called Xana, while borrowing heavily from folklore surrounding vampires.

The author has a grip on the action sequences, but my overall impression was that it was all rather unoriginal. The inspiration from Dracula is all too evident, and there is nothing to set this tale apart. It’s fine to create a mythical supernatural adversary, but making them like vampires while calling them Xana is unacceptable.



The author creates a sense of mystery that doesn’t always seep out of the pages. I couldn’t feel the sense of intrigue. There are strange things happening in the castle. Gerard has odd dreams of being hunted. There are strange beasts chained to rooms, and strange sounds are heard.

For the most part, it’s hard to tell what the fuss is about. Lord Mathers sometimes appears to be on his deathbed and sometimes in perfect health. Gerard has no clue what’s happening. Nor do we, but with much less patience and with no fear.



The book is written as a collection of letters and journal entries by various people. These include Gerard, his fiancée Raelyn Atherton, a doctor, his best friend, Ralph Brewer, her best friend, Jayda, a nun and a priest, Fr Malcolm Isaac Simpson. Unfortunately, there are so many perspectives that one begins to sound like another. There is nothing to distinguish one from another.

The journal and letters as a form of narrative technique can be limiting. Letters work best if there are only two correspondents. The more, the messier. The use of 3rd person omniscient narration would have improved the story.

The writing consists of some words, now in disuse, and old-type sentence constructions. There were also some odd usage with regard to tenses. At one point, Raelyn’s eyes are described by Nathan, her cousin, as “savoury.” In Gerard’s journal entry, he refers to Mark Huddleston, as his ‘rival’.

None of the characters are developed. We get no backstory about them so it’s hard for us to care about them, and the sting of the horror falls short. The journal entries appear impersonal, and make it hard for us to relate to the characters.

In particular, Raelyn seemed totally unreal. Her anxiousness to learn the truth about a stranger, Mark Huddleston, is unbelievable. Also, she acts like a modern woman in 1903, which is unbelievable. She even uses curse words, which doesn’t fit her general persona at all. The author gives us the impression that men consulted female doctors back then as a matter of course.

The significance of the title was unclear, as was the reason for the abduction of children and the reason behind the house imprisonment of Gerard. We are not given any explanation about the Xana, their origin story, and why they exist.

All in all, not a book I’d recommend.

While though this is a resembles to Dracula by Bram Stoker I actually enjoyed this one.
The language is so similar to Dracula that is was so enjoyable and just a pure delight to read.

So if you are a Stoker fan go read it. 🤗
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A wonderfully written epistolary novel is very hard to come by, but you’ll find one here. The book captures a great gothic atmosphere beautifully, but lacks any thrills and chills. It doesn’t have to be scary, but it should at least leave me with a sense of dread or even uncomfortable. Unfortunately this did no such thing. So I leave you with a question: can a book be both intriguing and boring? My answer is most definitely.

Thank you for this opportunity to read your book.

Okay. I'm going to address the elephant in the room straight off the bat. The Devil's Whispers is, essentially, Dracula.

The two books begin so similarly that, had I not accepted an advance copy in return for a review, I would have put the book down a few chapters in and not picked it back up again. Hault is clearly heavily influenced by Bram Stoker's masterpiece, and I can't blame him for that, but the similarities in both the story beats and even the characters was a little too much to overlook, and this is ultimately where The Devil's Whispers falters.

Hault manages to claw it back a little, though; creating his own mythos (albeit still very similar to vampires). His characterisation is simply okay, but the characters' voices and personalities are so similar that there is not much to distinguish one from another. I would have liked to see a little difference in personality, especially between the two main women who, on paper, seemed like the same person.

All this being said, I did enjoy the story for what it was, and finished it rather quickly and enthusiastically. Hault is an effective gothic writer and I'd be interested in reading some of his future works as long as he employed a little more creativity and originality.

I am sorry that I have to say I DNF’d this book at 20% and as a result will not complete an official review.

The main reason I did not finish this book was due to the audacious plagiarism I read in its pages. Not only was it a poor man’s copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in it’s epistolary style, complete with characters who mirror Harker and Mina but there were literally descriptions that were almost word for word from Conan Doyle’s novel ‘The Speckled Band’. As an avid reader and English teacher I was appalled at the gall of Hault stating this was an original novel of his. Shame. 0/5 stars!