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Dracula Lives!
Cream was the very definition of professional. He had carved out a life built on foundations of death and destruction, and it suited him well. So when an old friend got him involved in the hunt for an ancient casket and its grisly contents, Cream thought it was merely business as usual. But it was anything but. Now, Cream, the ultimate professional, finds himself entangled in a world he never believed existed-a world of devil-worshipers, secret societies, psychics and...vampires. As Cream plunges into the heart of the sinister mystery surrounding the casket and its contents, he learns one hideous, incontrovertible fact...despite all evidence to the contrary, despite everything he's ever been told...DRACULA LIVES!
180 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2010
1 person is currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Reynolds
313 books338 followersJosh Reynolds’ work has previously appeared in such anthologies as Historical Lovecraft from Innsmouth Free Press and Horror for the Holidays from Miskatonic River Press, and his novel, Knight of the Blazing Sun, is currently available from Black Library. He can be found at: http://joshuamreynolds.wordpress.com
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 6, 2023
The first third of this book gets four stars, the second third three, and the last third two. I strongly considered a two-star rating overall, but settled on the average. The first third has some wonderful, tight, spy on spy writing that drew me into the story. The second third shows a transition to a story more about the main character's attempts to survive in which the author seems to start losing the thread due to having too many characters to track and account for. The last third is a melodramatic mess.
The story's plot starts out well. The protagonist, Jonas Cream, accepts an unusual commission: bid on and win at auction a box that many dangerous people also want to acquire. Then transport the box to a Mr. Lime, who comissioned Jonas Cream. So far, so good. I'm loving the premise, the characters, and the initial obstacles in the plot.
But then things start to go amiss, not only for Mr. Cream, but also for our author. The goal changes from Mr. Cream successfully delivering the box to his client to trying to figure out what's in the box and why so many people are interested in it. The box's contents never become clear and the many parties involved motivations also remain obscure. Then out of nowhere comes Dracula, or a skull that was in a box that can become Dracula. But what the stakes are or what this means for the world or the parties involved is never really made clear either. Several tries are made on Jonas Cream's life and then the book abruptly ends.
The reader is told the story continues in a book titled Dracula Unbound!, and we are then treated to a five page preview from Chapter One of said book. Neither that book, nor its promised sequels, were ever published. I do not regard that as a loss to literature.
This book, I believe, is Joshua Reynolds' first attempt to write a novel. He had heretofore written a number of well-received short stories. I suspect the novel form overwhelmed him on this first attempt at it. I see some sparks in the novel, particularly in the first third which I suspect was extensively revised in later drafts, that show me Joshua Reynolds could become a writer of power. But this particular novel got away from him. He needed to stay focused on making the book about his original plot goal, namely simply delivering the box to the client despite all the obstacles. The end. What this delivery results in and whether it was good or not that Mr. Cream succeeded in his task could have then been the basis for the sequel's plot.
The physical production values for the book are high. The paper quality, binding, and cover art are top notch. The editing was not as good. There are few to no gratuitous grammar errors in the text, only two or three typos throughout the entire book. However, there was a major problem in the paragraph formatting. It seems neither Reynolds nor his editor have really clear ideas regarding when and where to break paragraphs. When you have unattributed dialogue, a good thing when you want to keep a fast pace, something Reynolds certainly needs to do for this genre of book, then it is essential to show who is speaking in the text by the use of correct paragraph breaks. New speaker, new paragraph. Same speaker, then don't start a new paragraph, or if for some reason you must, attribute the speaker up front. Otherwise, the reader can become confused about who is speaking. I often found myself having to reread to try to figure out who was speaking the dialogue. Having to do this really pulls a reader out of a story.
This book was not so good that it prompts me to go out and look for another Joshua Reynolds. But if I encounter another, and the price is right, I'd give this author another try, figuring he has probably made some technique improvements since this early effort and could thus tell a more entertaining story.
The story's plot starts out well. The protagonist, Jonas Cream, accepts an unusual commission: bid on and win at auction a box that many dangerous people also want to acquire. Then transport the box to a Mr. Lime, who comissioned Jonas Cream. So far, so good. I'm loving the premise, the characters, and the initial obstacles in the plot.
But then things start to go amiss, not only for Mr. Cream, but also for our author. The goal changes from Mr. Cream successfully delivering the box to his client to trying to figure out what's in the box and why so many people are interested in it. The box's contents never become clear and the many parties involved motivations also remain obscure. Then out of nowhere comes Dracula, or a skull that was in a box that can become Dracula. But what the stakes are or what this means for the world or the parties involved is never really made clear either. Several tries are made on Jonas Cream's life and then the book abruptly ends.
The reader is told the story continues in a book titled Dracula Unbound!, and we are then treated to a five page preview from Chapter One of said book. Neither that book, nor its promised sequels, were ever published. I do not regard that as a loss to literature.
This book, I believe, is Joshua Reynolds' first attempt to write a novel. He had heretofore written a number of well-received short stories. I suspect the novel form overwhelmed him on this first attempt at it. I see some sparks in the novel, particularly in the first third which I suspect was extensively revised in later drafts, that show me Joshua Reynolds could become a writer of power. But this particular novel got away from him. He needed to stay focused on making the book about his original plot goal, namely simply delivering the box to the client despite all the obstacles. The end. What this delivery results in and whether it was good or not that Mr. Cream succeeded in his task could have then been the basis for the sequel's plot.
The physical production values for the book are high. The paper quality, binding, and cover art are top notch. The editing was not as good. There are few to no gratuitous grammar errors in the text, only two or three typos throughout the entire book. However, there was a major problem in the paragraph formatting. It seems neither Reynolds nor his editor have really clear ideas regarding when and where to break paragraphs. When you have unattributed dialogue, a good thing when you want to keep a fast pace, something Reynolds certainly needs to do for this genre of book, then it is essential to show who is speaking in the text by the use of correct paragraph breaks. New speaker, new paragraph. Same speaker, then don't start a new paragraph, or if for some reason you must, attribute the speaker up front. Otherwise, the reader can become confused about who is speaking. I often found myself having to reread to try to figure out who was speaking the dialogue. Having to do this really pulls a reader out of a story.
This book was not so good that it prompts me to go out and look for another Joshua Reynolds. But if I encounter another, and the price is right, I'd give this author another try, figuring he has probably made some technique improvements since this early effort and could thus tell a more entertaining story.
January 6, 2011
Josh Reynolds is a writer I discovered what must be getting close to two years now, ever since I stumbled upon his blog Hunting Monsters. I've had a chance to read some of his short fiction, but this is the first chance I've had to read something longer than a dozen or so pages.
Dracula Lives! is a blend of horror, noir, spy thriller, urban fantasy, and probably a couple other sub-genres thrown in for good measure. But don't get hung up on labels. Just know this is a fast-paced pulpy adventure that's saturated in dry humor, with more twists per page than I dare count.
Jonas Cream, formerly of Her Royal Highness' Domestic Services in England, is an independent man for hire. Specializing in acquisitions it would seem, as he's tasked, by one of the many mysterious characters he meets while trying to avoid being murdered, with acquiring an especially rare object that's about to go up for auction in Budapest. Lot 49. Sounds innocuous enough, but it turns out to be a highly coveted object and Cream finds himself with more than one adversary out to relieve him of the object by any means necessary.
The cast of characters in this story is remarkably vast given the modest page count, but through the quick pace there were a few scenes where I had trouble keeping track of who was who and who was targeting who. Overall though, it played out to a more satisfying end than some of the other mystery thrillers I've read. I think the dry wit throughout the dialogue helped, as did the winding supernatural conspiracy. I've never gravitated towards the detective and spy novels of old, so throwing in some beastly creatures and a sultry vampire certainly helped sweeten the deal.
But for a book with the title Dracula Lives, there wasn't a whole lot of the bloodsucking icon. It's not a book that channels Bram Stoker, so don't expect that kind of prose or those types of characters. The connection to the legend of Dracula is contained within Lot 49, and while some are out to exploit it, others are sworn to make sure it never sees the light of day--destroyed if possible--and poor Mr. Cream is caught in the middle.
The prose is pulpy, not purple, and once I was a couple of chapters in I caught on to the kind of story I was in for--and it still managed to throw a couple of curve-balls my way. Blending genres can be tricky business, but I think Josh found a good balance with this one. Hopefully, he could match pace or do even better with the sequel he's got in the works.
Dracula Lives! is a blend of horror, noir, spy thriller, urban fantasy, and probably a couple other sub-genres thrown in for good measure. But don't get hung up on labels. Just know this is a fast-paced pulpy adventure that's saturated in dry humor, with more twists per page than I dare count.
Jonas Cream, formerly of Her Royal Highness' Domestic Services in England, is an independent man for hire. Specializing in acquisitions it would seem, as he's tasked, by one of the many mysterious characters he meets while trying to avoid being murdered, with acquiring an especially rare object that's about to go up for auction in Budapest. Lot 49. Sounds innocuous enough, but it turns out to be a highly coveted object and Cream finds himself with more than one adversary out to relieve him of the object by any means necessary.
The cast of characters in this story is remarkably vast given the modest page count, but through the quick pace there were a few scenes where I had trouble keeping track of who was who and who was targeting who. Overall though, it played out to a more satisfying end than some of the other mystery thrillers I've read. I think the dry wit throughout the dialogue helped, as did the winding supernatural conspiracy. I've never gravitated towards the detective and spy novels of old, so throwing in some beastly creatures and a sultry vampire certainly helped sweeten the deal.
But for a book with the title Dracula Lives, there wasn't a whole lot of the bloodsucking icon. It's not a book that channels Bram Stoker, so don't expect that kind of prose or those types of characters. The connection to the legend of Dracula is contained within Lot 49, and while some are out to exploit it, others are sworn to make sure it never sees the light of day--destroyed if possible--and poor Mr. Cream is caught in the middle.
The prose is pulpy, not purple, and once I was a couple of chapters in I caught on to the kind of story I was in for--and it still managed to throw a couple of curve-balls my way. Blending genres can be tricky business, but I think Josh found a good balance with this one. Hopefully, he could match pace or do even better with the sequel he's got in the works.
December 14, 2015
A GRAND TALE OF THE IMPALER IT IS...
Hello, great, great story. No sparkles here. The "MAN" himself, in all of his terrible glory. Ready for the next book, like NOW would be preferable. Damn fine stuff. Thanks.
Hello, great, great story. No sparkles here. The "MAN" himself, in all of his terrible glory. Ready for the next book, like NOW would be preferable. Damn fine stuff. Thanks.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews