The Last Breath Before Death

by Alan Golbourn

‘The power of choosing good and evil is within the reach of all.’ — Origen

Vampires, ancient folklores, and the ultimate act of betrayal. In this dark horror tale ... 🦇

From the Back Cover

BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER

A missing brother … An imminent phenomenon …

Award-winning comic book illustrator and artist Jimmy Cochran is also a freelance reporter in New York City, specialising in the supernatural. Upon hearing that his estranged brother, Quentin, has gone missing with his best friend over in Germany, Jimmy becomes concerned — unable to shake off the feeling of foreboding and dread. Things worsen when he quickly learns that the missing two are in great danger from an unequalled evil, which is connected to an upcoming, ominous and phenomenal event.

A mysterious ‘man’ with a terrifying tale …

With time running out, Jimmy investigates further, in spite of the strong warnings and the danger to his own life — particularly after he is contacted by a peculiar and mystifying man with a horrific, nefarious past of his own, linked to old Serbian and German folklores and a sinister, secret brotherhood.

327 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 22, 2024

About the author

Alan Golbourn was born in Essex, England. He has enjoyed writing stories since a young age, when he was recognised early for his writing abilities. Amongst several interests and hobbies, including football and computer games, he holds a love and compassion for animals.

Reviews

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jimmy is an illustrator and freelance paranormal investigator living in America. When he hears that his brother has disappeared while hiking in Germany, he slowly starts to assume the worst (especially after a psychic gives him a disparaging reading). Jimmy flies overseas to delve deeper into what happened to Quentin and his friend Riley; he encounters good people who want to help, but also dark forces hellbent on completing their evil ritual.

The story is interesting, but I found the pacing quite slow until around the halfway point. Then the action picks up. It takes the main protagonist quite awhile to get to England, and then to Germany. It felt like there was so much extraneous dialogue and unnecessary detail at every turn (ex: when the MC is paying for a meal, there is a conversation with the staff on how to pay, then an account of him paying, including two descriptions of the same credit card). It was just A LOT of fluff to go through before you can get to the important meat of the tale.

The second half felt like a completely different book, it was so intense. I was glued to the pages as the good guys traversed the dark mountainous area, trying to find the missing men and avoid the flesh eating monsters.

Overall, the folklore and mythology of the creatures is interesting, and well crafted. When Jimmy finally comes into contact with them there were some moments when I felt absolute dread. These guys are NASTY!

The characters were all unique, but I found it hard to cheer for Jimmy- he’s a womanizer (in the middle of searching for his brother he stops to stare at a cyclist’s body for example), he’s rude (to the German police especially), doesn’t listen or follow rules (tells multiple people he broke into a private residence for his article, goes to where the police are actively surveilling, etc). There’s also some random times where his personality flips and he snaps (calling a woman that stops messaging him on tinder a “stupid b*tch”, swearing at a disabled child, etc). I just stopped caring about him and his family after seeing him act this way.

There were parts of this story that I personally didn’t enjoy, and others that I loved. It was definitely a mixed bag, and I debated between 2 or 3 stars. Ultimately this is getting 3 stars as I would recommend it to other readers who are looking for fang fiction, creature features, etc.

[Beverly Laude · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a longtime reader of vampire books, so I'm always looking for the next great book. This book was almost like two separate books. I will admit that I almost quit reading because I got bored with the first half of the book. It follows the daily life of a man named James Cochrane. He learns that his estranged half brother, Quentin, and his friend, Riley, have gone missing while hiking in Germany. Jimmy has experience with paranormal occurrences and consults a psychic to help him find them. Also, he is confronted by a strange man with information about them. All of this against Jimmy's "romantic" relationship and everyday life.

Once Jimmy decides to travel to Germany to look for the missing men, things speed up a lot. I enjoyed the unique take on vampires featuring Serbian and German folklore. The last half of the book was action filled and full of horrific moments. I think that a lot of people will not give this book a chance because of the tedium of the first (almost) half of the book. The writing is good and the descriptions are wonderful, but it just didn't hit the spot like I had hoped.

[Jenny Ashford · Rating 4 out of 5]

British author Alan Golbourn will be no stranger to regular readers of this site, as I previously reviewed two of his other novels, 2022's The 666 Murders, and its 2023 follow-up, The Cult From Beyond. Alan recently contacted me again and asked if I'd have a look at his latest novel (his fourth), a vampire tale titled The Last Breath Before Death. Since you're reading this review, you can obviously see that I accepted.

Unlike his two earlier books, which both featured private investigator Randolph Landon and were set in 1966 and 1970, respectively, this one tells an entirely new story, set in the modern day and following a younger, paranormal-focused journalist and comic book illustrator by the name of Jimmy Cochran. I will say right up front that I didn't like Jimmy as a character as much as I liked Randolph; Jimmy often comes across as a bit smarmy and full of himself, though I will admit that his genuine love for his Sphynx cat Colson did go some way toward endearing him to me more. Shout-out to all the cat dads out there; y'all are awesome.

Like the other two novels, though, this one also features an investigation of sorts (into two missing people, in this case) that descends into supernatural territory (specifically vampires, though of a slightly more folkloric bent than your run-of-the-mill modern bloodsucker). Of the three books of Golbourn's I've read thus far, I think I generally like this one the best, even though I'm not a huge fan of vampire media, as you guys know. I did have a few issues with The Last Breath Before Death, some of which I mentioned in my reviews of his other work and one of which I'll elaborate on later, but overall, this was a very compelling read with a cool backstory behind the villains and an intriguing mystery that spanned three countries.

So Jimmy is originally from Shropshire in England but has been living in New York City for quite a while. He's a very successful comic book illustrator, as I mentioned earlier, and does a comic called The Gun from Montana with a friend and collaborator named Donovan. He also has a sideline gig as a freelance writer and is mainly known for investigating haunted houses and writing about his experiences for various publications. He is skeptical by nature but has seen some paranormal phenomena for himself, so he knows that at least some of it is legit.

He lives in a decent apartment in the city, and is quite happily single, living alone with his beloved kitty. He occasionally goes on Tinder and has some casual hook-ups, such as with his latest fuck-buddy Sophia, a tattoo artist with a super high sex drive who's into light BDSM, but he is very reluctant to get tied down to any one person.

All that's neither here nor there, though. Near the beginning of the tale, his mother calls from England and tells him that his half-brother Quentin and Quentin's best friend Riley have apparently gone missing. They told family and friends they were going on a week-long hiking trip to Germany, but it's now been two weeks and no one has heard from them. Mom, whose name is Lillian, is understandably worried.

Jimmy is bummed that his mom is concerned, but he's honestly not that upset about the whole missing person situation. He and his half-brother are estranged after an argument over Jimmy being unable to fly over to Quentin's wedding, and they haven't spoken in years. Jimmy apologized for not going to the wedding, and he had a very good reason for his non-attendance, but his brother wasn't having it. Jimmy figures if his brother had wanted to mend fences, he could have called and patched things up at any time. He never did, so Jimmy adopted a "well, fuck him, then" attitude.

Over the next few days, though, he finds himself thinking about Quentin more and more, even though he literally has not given the dude a moment's consideration for ages. To take his mind off things, he decides to make another trip out to a supposedly haunted house on Staten Island owned by a family called the Holbrooks whom he's been working on an article about.

While there, he runs into a man named Walter, a psychic medium who had been assisting the Holbrook family with their haunting. Jimmy had investigated Walter in the course of his research into the supposed paranormal activity, though he doesn't tell Walter this, and he suspects that the psychic is probably a fake.

But as the two men are talking, Walter comes up with the name Quentin unprompted and says that he knows Jimmy is worried about him. Jimmy is still skeptical but starts to have an inkling that maybe Walter is the real thing after all. Following a nice chat, Walter simply gives Jimmy his card and says to come see him for a reading if he wants to.

After having a strange dream about his brother, recalling an accident Quentin had when they were younger, Jimmy decides to bite the bullet and go visit Walter to see if the psychic can come up with any information about where his brother might be. At the reading, Walter has an unprecedented and horrifying vision, although it's too vague to make out any specific details. What he is able to determine, however, is that both Quentin and Riley are still alive, but are in terrible danger from some unidentified evil.

Jimmy decides to fly to England to see his mother and support her through the investigation into his brother's disappearance. Leaving his kitty Colson with a trusted friend, he jets off, and ends up staying with his mother at Quentin's house while they try to coordinate with law enforcement in northern Germany, where the men went missing.

Things seem to be at a frustrating standstill; neither Quentin nor Riley had told anyone specifically where they were going, and although the German police are looking for them, they don't have much information to go on. In Quentin's house, Jimmy finds a diary with a page torn out; doing the old "rubbing a pencil on the next page" trick, he discovers that the page was just a mundane list of stuff to do and buy before the trip, though one of the items on the list specifies meeting someone named Detlef in a town called Salzwedel. This clue is passed on to the authorities.

Not long after arriving in England, though, Jimmy receives a mysterious phone call at Quentin's house from a man who knows who he is and knows that his brother is missing. Jimmy agrees to meet with this man alone in a public place, and the dude is a little weird; pale and thin, and clad in all black. The man, who never gives his name, tells Jimmy about a Serbian vampire cult, but Jimmy is annoyed and just wants to know where his brother is. The man has to leave suddenly, seemingly paranoid that someone is watching them, but he meets up with Jimmy the next day and spins him a long yarn about the last remnants of a clan of vampires who are apparently still operating in Germany and may have had something to do with Quentin and Riley's vanishing act.

After this point, since the police investigation seems to be going nowhere fast, Jimmy decides to travel to Germany himself to try and find his brother.

On the whole, I found this an entertaining, gripping read, with a mystery that unspooled at a steady pace and kept me engaged the whole way through. Even though I'm not super into vampires, I liked the more folklore- and cult-based aspect of the monsters here, which recalled old European legends in an appealing way.

Some of the issues I mentioned with Alan Golbourn's other books—such as overly expositional and slightly repetitive dialogue that's a bit clunky and doesn't sound all that much the way real people talk, and villains over-explaining their motives (though Jimmy does at one point tell one of the baddies that he sounds like a Bond villain, so at least there's some self-awareness)—is still present here, but seems a bit less pronounced.

One thing that did bother me that I don't remember encountering in the author's previous works, though, was a handful of the spoken asides or thoughts that Jimmy had. As I said before, Jimmy came across as slightly arrogant to me, though not so overtly that it turned me off his character entirely. But there were a few instances where he would just say or think some kinda sideways shit that didn't have anything to do with the story at hand and just came across as the author trying to insert his own opinions randomly. For example, Jimmy is idly swiping through Tinder early in the story and suddenly goes off on a weird mini-rant about women "with ridiculous standards" who don't look like their pictures but expect "a hero with model good looks," and have the audacity to just disappear and unmatch after messaging him for a while. The "sheer arrogance" of these women, some of whom were pregnant or just had babies, God forbid, apparently "boils his piss," even though at other times he seems to have no problem hooking up with women and claims he doesn't want any more than casual flings. Then later in the story, he's on Tinder again and thinks of someone as a "stupid bitch" because she stopped talking to him after they'd exchanged a few flirtatious messages. It all came across as unreasonably angry, entitled, and misogynistic to me; I know Jimmy is not a real dude, but if he was, I would tell him that there are lots of reasons a woman might stop messaging you on Tinder, one of which is that you said something that pissed her off or creeped her out and she was too uncomfortable to call you out on it. Again, this whole sidebar has nothing to do with the narrative at all, and therefore sticks out like a sore thumb.

Jimmy also makes a supposedly clever "joke" to his mother about Chinese food being made of cats and dogs, which was already a tired old wheeze when my racist grandpa used to say it back in the 1970s. There's also a bit where Jimmy is in Germany watching one of his favorite movies, Trading Places, on TV in the hotel room, and he laments how the movie would never be made nowadays because of the "Woke Brigade." My eyes rolled so far back in my head when I read that, I'm pretty sure I saw my frontal cortex. While all of this nonsense isn't quite as blatant, long-running, or tiresome as the insidious right-wing bullshit in Jason Rekulak's Hidden Pictures (which I reviewed here), it was really annoying, unnecessary, kinda read as the author's own sour grapes, and took away from the story.

All that said, some of that stuff might have been in there just to make Jimmy seem more unlikable so that he could slowly learn to be a better person through the trials and tribulations he endures throughout the story as he has to put his life on the line to try and rescue his brother. If that's the case, then I suppose I can see what the author was going for, trying to give Jimmy more of a pronounced arc.

Despite these bizarre digressions—which could honestly be removed entirely without making the slightest bit of difference, since they don't serve the story at all anyway—I did enjoy the book overall, and quite a bit at that. The story is captivating, the villains fascinating and suitably evil, and the final battle pretty epic: tense, exciting, and gory, with real stakes and acts of heroism. The mysterious man Jimmy meets at the park is also a great character, tragic and inspiring all at once; I'm kind of hoping Alan Golbourn does more with him in a follow-up book, because I'd be interested in reading more of his exploits.

[sugarnsass_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Methodical, well-written, detailed book with a creeping, intensely patient, pace, that left me with the feeling of being hunted. This is not your typical vampire tale! These vampires are as horror intended. I really struggled with the pacing in the first part of the book as I have gotten used to reading novellas but in essence, it built the suspense and the rest of the book was worth the wait. Good character development although I really didn’t care for the MMC. This was my first Alan Golbourn book and I am intrigued.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last Breath Before Death is a new action-packed suspense novel and vampire thriller by Alan Golbourn. In a book market flooded with vampire novels, this novel stands out because the vampires are very scary, unlike the more recent trend to create sexy and sympathetic vampires. This novel is no Twilight, and it is grislier and at times more intense than Dracula.

The story begins when we are introduced to Jimmy Cochran, a comic book illustrator/artist and freelance reporter on the supernatural. He’s currently investigating an alleged haunted house that he thinks is a hoax created by the family. While exploring the house, he meets Walter, a psychic who, while agreeing the family could be making up claims about the haunting, still thinks some supernatural phenomenon is at work. Jimmy doesn’t think much of his meeting with Walter at first, but soon, events will lead them to cross paths again.

That happens when Jimmy’s mother contacts him because his half-brother Quentin is missing. Quentin lives in England, but has gone to Germany with his best friend, Riley, to hike in the mountains. Jimmy’s mom hasn’t heard from Quentin in some time and is worried about him. Jimmy has an estranged relationship with his brother because he missed Quentin’s wedding due to being ill. Quentin has never forgiven him, but now Jimmy feels at least for his mom’s sake he must investigate what happened to his brother.

Jimmy contacts Walter, who uses his psychic powers to try to sense what has happened to Quentin. The information he receives isn’t totally clear, but it’s enough to convince Jimmy that Quentin and Riley’s lives are in danger. Soon Jimmy leaves New York for England to learn more details from Riley’s wife, Jasmine, who is equally worried.

Once in England, Quentin is contacted by a mysterious man who says he has information about Jimmy’s brother. The man won’t give his name and wants to meet Jimmy in a secret and obscure location. Against Jimmy’s best instincts, he agrees to meet him. Fortunately, the man is not nefarious, but he is strange. He won’t reveal all the details about himself or how he has the information he does, but he says enough to convince Jimmy he needs to go to Germany to find Quentin and Riley.

Without giving away the entire plot, I will say that what happens next is shocking. Not only will Jimmy learn Serbian and German vampire lore, but he will discover the mysterious man helping him is doing so out of remorse for his past. Jimmy will also encounter a vampire “familiar,” one of the most sinister characters I’ve ever met, and eventually, he will stumble upon a vampire ritual held by the Nachzechers, the German vampire brotherhood.

One significant aspect that makes this novel different from other vampire novels is that all vampires are not the same. There are different types, and the ones Jimmy has to face are the Nachzehrers, a German branch whose name means “shroud eaters.” Jimmy’s mysterious ally explains to him about Nachzehrers as follows:

“When they are buried, they devour their burial shroud and their own body. Somebody doesn’t become a Nachzehrer through being bitten; instead, the most common cause is suicide. Or dying accidentally. Another way could be down to sickness and disease. The first victim to die would turn into a Nachzehrer … Once a Nachzehrer has devoured its shroud and its own body, their loved ones can feel physically drained. The Nachzehrer would then begin to hunt and target them. Devouring a loved one could help them to regenerate.”

Jimmy is, of course, completely repulsed by this description, and even more so when he learns they practiced a ritual that went wrong. They wanted to become archvampires, but instead, the ritual caused them to develop a taste not only for blood but for human flesh. Jimmy realizes he’s about to face the Hannibal Lecters of the vampire world.

As I said, the vampires in the novel go against recent literary trends. While we meet a remorseful vampire before the story is over, I wouldn’t say he preys on the reader’s sympathies. He is no Lestat, all moody and filled with angst like more recent brooding and Romantic Byronic vampire figure. And the evil vampires in this novel are as ghastly as they come. The story becomes quite grisly at times as we witness vampires dismembering, cooking, and eating human flesh.

The final chapters are highly climactic and really one long, suspenseful scene before the final ending. The conclusion is satisfying even if not quite what I expected.

In the end, for all its grisliness, the novel becomes a very conservative text that promotes the value of family relationships in alliance with the earliest of Gothic novels. Despite that conservatism, The Last Breath Before Death may be a game-changer in vampire literature for bringing back terror to vampire fiction. I also appreciate that it explores Serbian and German vampires rather than the more commonly known American, English, and Transylvanian vampires typically depicted in literature.

Alan Golbourn is an English author who has previously published three other novels, Famuli Cani and the first two books of the Randolph Landon series The 666 Murders and The Cult From Beyond. You can learn more about him and The Last Breath Before Death at Amazon and at other online booksellers. If you love vampire fiction, you won’t want to miss this novel!

[Josette Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever a book contains folklore it is a must read for me. This book contained information about vampires I had not been aware of. The author was extensive in his research behind this lore about vampires. I really enjoyed following Jimmy and his desire to help his brother. I, myself, believe in the supernatural and learning of these ‘Nachzehrer’ was very interesting. To know that people love power and will always find a way to push the boundaries of good and evil to obtain what they desire. As Jimmy became further involved in the search for his brother and friend, he was going to have to have even more of an open mind for the supernatural. As much information was given there were also the blood and gore. Some of the scenes the author wrote will remain in my nightmares for a bit. The storytelling skills this author has only increased as the reader became more entranced by the lengths Jimmy would go to find his brother. Jimmy could have easily listened the several times he was encouraged to forget about his brother or go back the United States. I applauded his bravery (or foolishness) as he followed the clues to find his brother. He never gave up and for that quality he has earned great respect as a character in a book. This message from the man who saved Jimmy multiple times will stick with me for a long time: “… Live your life and be good. Do good when you can. Even if it’s a small token or gesture. Never shy away from helping a person who is in need. Learn from tonight and what came before. Use your pain and your survival to make it all count. Live the best life that you can. Don’t waste this opportunity that you have been given. Pass this on to the others, too.” As humans, we should all strive to live this message.

[Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Review

Another compelling supernatural thriller from author Alan Golbourn. The author does a remarkable job of creating unique supernatural stories that are atmospheric and create a cult following simultaneously. The imagery in the author’s writing brought the European setting and folkloric atmosphere to life on the page in a way that will stay with the reader.

The heart of this novel was in the balance the author found between relatable character development and deep, folkloric mythos. The unique spin on the classic “vampire” that the author found through Germanic folklore was so inspired and added a depth of terror that few vampire books manage to capture these days. The protagonist's complex familial bonds with his brother and mother and the relatable life experiences he exudes throughout this narrative will instantly draw readers in.

The Verdict

Haunting, detailed, and entertaining, author Alan Golbourn’s “The Last Breath Before Death” is a must-read supernatural horror thriller. The unique twists and turns that this narrative takes, the relatability of the protagonist, and the chilling nature of this take on vampires will stay with readers long after the final chapter ends.

[Horror Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gotta hand it to the author for coming up with a unique kind of vampire book which doesn't rely on the same tropes we've read lots of times before. This one deals with Serbian and Germanic folklore and gives us something terrifying and downright evil.

Jimmy is the main protagonist and his estranged half brother and another friend has gone missing while hiking in Germany. Jimmy is a freelance paranormal reporter who often debunks the supernatural. But he meets a psychic who seems to be the real deal and he believes his brother is alive but in serious danger.

Jimmy decides to go first to England and then to Germany to investigate and try to find his missing brother and friend. That's when things are going to take a horrifying turn as something evil with no good intentions lurks in this small German town and it might be too late.

There is some repetitive dialogue and quite a bit of extra unnecessary exchanges. And Jimmy is really not a good guy. He seems to be misogynistic and confrontational at times for no real reason.

But the blood fueled action in the second half and a unique take on the vampire genre is thrilling and will have your heart pounding. I do recommend it.

[Mark F · Rating 5 out of 5]

My latest read was The Last Breath Before Death, by Alan Golbourn, a story about an English-American freelance reporter of the supernatural, named Jimmy Cochran, now living in NYC, and whose brother and good friend go missing under mysterious circumstances while hiking/camping in Germany. As the story develops, we learn that there are sinister forces at play, and their rescue is uncertain, at best. However, never doubt the bond of family or people who are truly devoted to their job. Will they be found? Can they be saved? Or will evil prevail?

Though not a quick-paced book, I promise you that it’s worth sticking with it. Personally, I don’t mind slow burns as I feel that if they’re done right, as was done in this book, they add to the development of both the characters and the story. However, I’d say that this is hotter than a slow burn. It held a good pace, continued to build, with the suspense intensifying throughout, until the final third or so when all hell broke loose.

I liked this book from the beginning and loved it at the end. It kept me on edge, and kept me guessing at how things would turn out, who can truly be trusted, who would survive, and how it would all come together at the end. Highly recommended to any fan of horror, I give this a 5 out of 5.

[Cobaltdragon]

An ancient relic, mysterious creatures and 2 men missing in a forest in Germany. One of them is the brother of Jimmy Cochran, a comic illustrator and freelance reporter with an interest in the supernatural. But is that enough for Jimmy to find his brother in time? With the help of a psychic, a mysterious man who knows about the creatures and the police once he arrives in Germany, Jimmy is racing against the clock as time is running out. Putting all the pieces together leads to some gruesome discoveries and experiences for Jimmy, but to save his brother, he has to keep going forward. There are some interesting twists and turns along the way, with help from some unexpected sources.

[Shanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jimmy discovers that his estranged brother and brothers best friend has gone missing. As time goes by Jimmy starts getting a feeling of dread. The more he investigates, the more danger he finds himself in.

This is a fantastically written psychological horror book. The author was fantastic at building suspense throughout the book and then taking right through the storm at the end. If you're a fan of folklore and vampires, check this one out.

[Susan Demeter · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the The Last Breath Before Death author Alan Golbourn has created a genuinely frightening supernatural horror novel. The story becomes ever more creepy, dark and compelling as we travel with the protagonist Jimmy in search of his missing brother and friend. I do not want to include spoilers here, but I will say if you prefer reading novels where the vampires are unhinged monsters this will not disappoint.

[Jenny Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those of you who are tired of the same old vampire books this one is for you. It's not the typical vampire story and has a folklore as well.

This book has me guessing how things were going to turn out. Some say it's a slow burn, but we all have our own opinions. But for me it was the right pace to tell the storyline and to get to know the characters. Either way this book does not disappoint.

[Terrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a great fan of vampire stories, but this is a brilliant book. It's not the usual run-of-the-mill vampire tale. When Jimmy seeks to help find his missing brother and friend, he soon discovers what is really happening, putting his own life in danger. The search for them ends in a terrifying and horrific climax. A terrific read!

[Julia Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a mystery thriller with vampires as the supernatural element. - see more at https://simplyhonestreviews.webador.c...

[Emma's In Stock]

DNFed @ 33% on page 127

[Emily Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jimmy goes home to help his brother. Things aren't as they seem. Can Jimmy escape?