Tomes of Shadowstalking

Welcome to the land of shadows, where evil is the greatest power, where nightfall marks the birth of terror, where your very soul is at risk. Join me as I investigate worlds filled with black magic and dark souls and encounter the monsters rule these wicked places.

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

With the death of Vlad Tepes, his wife Ilona, and the Countess Karina, Mina Harker thought the troubles which had plagued her and her friends was finally over. The final conflict left her lover dead and a rift still unresolved between herself and her husband. Now, as she prepares to rebuild her life, a new danger overshadows her efforts. For while she has begun new charitable works with the fortune left her by her dead lover, there is a man stalking the streets of London, killing prostitutes and whores plying their trade on the streets in a Jack the Ripper sort of fashion. And he may be closer to Mina than she imagines. In the meantime, her husband's dark dreams and nightmares have begun again, warning that the last of their Romanian enemies, Joanna Tepes, has emerged from her isolation and is on her way west for a confrontation. Now, with her life once more slipping out of her control, will Mina survive the Ripper-like murderer stalking the streets only to fall prey to the vampire woman, or lose her husband once and for all?

Blood to Blood is not for the young, less-than-mature reader. It may not be for the mature reader, either. It contains detailed--though not graphic--descriptions of two women enjoying each other, as well as similarly restrained mention of a man and a woman being physically intimate. Just thought I'd warn you right out.

It has been a while since I've read Mina, which is the prequel to this novel. As a result, I wasn't perhaps quite as familiar with what was going on as I usually am. Still, this novel was never meant to retell the story of Dracula, but to tell a story of its own. Joanna, as a vampire, is as unlike Dracula as Mina was from the late Lucy Westenra. I mean, here we have a vampire woman who possesses the same abilities and inhuman strengths as Dracula himself, yet still manages to retain a portion of her conscience and human soul: she will not harm children, though it would make her quest for sustenance that much easier, nor does she desire to kill her prey, merely take enough to satisfy her thirst while leaving her victim alive--unless it happens to be a rat or vole, in which case she'll drain the rodent dry. Joanna's probably the closest you'll get to a "good" vampire in this chronal setting.

As I mentioned earlier, this novel is not one to be taken up lightly. Its content may be too mature even for a mature reader, so go forth with caution. But if you have the guts to brave the descriptions and want to see what might have happened to the Harkers and their friends after Dracula's death, then go ahead and read!

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