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Necroscope
Harry Keogh is a necroscope -- he knows the thoughts of corpses in their graves. Unfortunately for Harry, his talent works both ways. The outer limits of horror are unleashed when Harry Keogh is recruited by the E-Branch (E for ESP) of the British Secret Service to combat his own evil counterpart, the deadly Romanian Boris Dragosani. Long buried in hallowed ground, bound by earth and silver, the master vampire schemes and plots. Trapped in unlife, neither dead nor living, Thibor Ferenczy hungers for freedom and revenge. The vampire's human tool is Boris Dragosani, part of a super-secret Soviet spy agency. Dragosani is an avid pupil, eager to plumb the depthless evil of the vampire's mind. Ferenczy teaches Dragosani the awful skills of the necromancer, gives him the ability to rip secrets from the mind and bodies of the dead. Dragosani works not for Ferenczy's freedom but is in the pay of an ultra-secret Soviet paranormal agency over which he means to gain power for himself with knowledge raped from the dead. His speciality is tearing secrets from the souls of newly dead traitors. His only Harry Koegh. Like Dragosani, Harry is a necroscope who can speak with the dead. But Harry is a champion of the dead -- and the living. From the Romanian mausoleum where the undead vampire tests the limits of his bonds, the stage is set for the most horrifying, violent supernatural confrontation ever when Harry Keogh is recruited by the British Secret Service to take on Dragosani. To protect Harry, the dead will do anything -- even rise from their graves!
511 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 4, 2026
He Speaks with the Dead
27 September 2026
Honestly, this is one of those books that built up really, really well, but kind of suffered at the end. In fact it sort of felt like one of those stories were a massive army assaults a fortress, and the main characters fight at the end, so yeah, basically a Hollywood film. However I found that the lead-up to the end was pretty good. In part I suspect it might have something to do with it being a 500 page book which is why the end feels rushed.
So, we have two characters, Harry Keogh, an orphan in the north of England who can speak with the dead. In fact not only that but he can channel the dead, such as a mathematician to help him pass his maths exam, and then a novelist to first of all help him pass his English exam, but to then make a few bucks as an author.
However, in Russia (this is set during the Cold War) we have Dragonsani, who is a necromancer, but he is also speaking with a vampire and attempting to get hold of the vampire’s powers. The thing is that a bulk of the book involves Dragosani becoming ever more powerful, and the E-Branch (that is psy-ops) building out its power, and also attempting to deal with the fact that it appears that the British also have a pretty decent one (despite the fact that the British E-Branch is mentioned even less than Harry Keogh). So, while Harry Keogh is the hero of the story, a bulk of it involves Dragosani.
Okay, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing because what is happening is that we are creating a really powerful adversary, but while we watch Dragosani grow in power, and the means that he does it, we seem to completely brush over Harry. Sure, we also watch as he comes to terms with his power, but it also feels like that there was a massive jump at the end, and also a couple of meetings that you kind of wonder what the purpose of it was.
So, yeah, I enjoyed the book, and it didn’t take as long as I expected that it would, probably because I made a greater effort to read it, but also that it was actually quite entertaining, but sadly I didn’t feel that the end justified all of the buildup.
27 September 2026
Honestly, this is one of those books that built up really, really well, but kind of suffered at the end. In fact it sort of felt like one of those stories were a massive army assaults a fortress, and the main characters fight at the end, so yeah, basically a Hollywood film. However I found that the lead-up to the end was pretty good. In part I suspect it might have something to do with it being a 500 page book which is why the end feels rushed.
So, we have two characters, Harry Keogh, an orphan in the north of England who can speak with the dead. In fact not only that but he can channel the dead, such as a mathematician to help him pass his maths exam, and then a novelist to first of all help him pass his English exam, but to then make a few bucks as an author.
However, in Russia (this is set during the Cold War) we have Dragonsani, who is a necromancer, but he is also speaking with a vampire and attempting to get hold of the vampire’s powers. The thing is that a bulk of the book involves Dragosani becoming ever more powerful, and the E-Branch (that is psy-ops) building out its power, and also attempting to deal with the fact that it appears that the British also have a pretty decent one (despite the fact that the British E-Branch is mentioned even less than Harry Keogh). So, while Harry Keogh is the hero of the story, a bulk of it involves Dragosani.
Okay, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing because what is happening is that we are creating a really powerful adversary, but while we watch Dragosani grow in power, and the means that he does it, we seem to completely brush over Harry. Sure, we also watch as he comes to terms with his power, but it also feels like that there was a massive jump at the end, and also a couple of meetings that you kind of wonder what the purpose of it was.
So, yeah, I enjoyed the book, and it didn’t take as long as I expected that it would, probably because I made a greater effort to read it, but also that it was actually quite entertaining, but sadly I didn’t feel that the end justified all of the buildup.
September 28, 2024
Astounding. Page by page, a well thought-out, intricate and inventive narrative within the vampire genre. Are there vampires? Yes! But so, so much more. This is horror at its best, low on the viscera, high on the tension and intrigue. I've read this several times now... just getting around to reviewing it!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews