Customer Reviews

Descent into Dust

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm lucky enough to live in a place with a great library system, its librarians unabashed paranormal fans. I read (and write) a lot of vampire books, usually exploring them for free before I decide to purchase. So, I routinely scan the new acquisitions and place them on hold for myself. Most of the new bloodsucker literature falls into the range of adequate, some entertaining-but-not-purchase-worthy, and occasionally one stands out. I rarely write reviews, because my taste in books is unique and 99% of the books others enjoy, leave me cold. But I did savor this story. In the second half of the book, I found myself anxious as I turned the pages. The horror of the monsters caused my heart to pound. The main female character is intelligent and resourceful, while at the same time a flawed reflection of her limiting/limited (for women) time period. The cast of characters is appealing. Even the annoying, pouting sister. The writing is compelling and high-quality. "Descent into Dust" reminded me of Susan Squires' book, "The Companion," with its excellent historical research and evil vampires. I very much look forward to Lepore's second book in this series.

Descent into Dust by Jacqueline Lepore is a rare and wonderful find. This is an intriguing story, often eloquently told and in the first person, with interesting and deep supporting characters (each with their own demons), a dark and creepy vampire villain you will love to hate, and an extraordinary and unlikely heroine (vampire hunter) that embraces her destiny with a calm assertiveness that Cesar Millan would be proud of. Truth be told, I am not a big vampire person, (although I admit to racing home from school in my youth to watch Dark Shadows) and not a fan of the modern sexy vampire who deep inside is really a nice guy, but I am a fan of extraordinary story telling and this tale had me hooked from the first foreboding paragraph. This is not your typical vampire story. While there is the requisite ominous manor house and dreary English countryside (why would anyone want to live there?), Lepore cleverly ties in local lore and historical legends and myths, and weaves in some dark secrets of the Catholic church (a touch of the da Vinci Code?). She also has assembled an interesting supporting cast of characters, each with a real presence and depth and dark secrets of their own. There is Valarian Fox (the mysterious, seasoned, and of course handsome vampire hunter), Father Luke (you gotta love a haunted warrior priest) and of course the rather flamboyant Sebastian (the sister Emma never had), who is Emma's confidant and lightens the mood for her (and us) but is stronger than he appears. In short, I couldn't put it down and my only disappointment is that I have to wait for the next installment. I like rooting for good against evil, and love epic quests (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Stand), and this has all the ingredients of a great one. With such strong story telling, an intriguing and resourceful heroine, and a great cast of characters, I think this will be a fun ride.

I really enjoyed this book, differs from the average "vampire hunter" genre, and I found the historical descriptions very well researched. I'm not reading her next book and look forward to more character development and challenges Emma and Co. must over come.

A good old-fashioned gothic Victorian novel!!! The characters are well-drawn and likable, the setting is dark and atmospheric, and the writing is very good. There was definite chemistry between Emma and Valerian, and although their romance is slow and doesn't go very far in this book I found their attraction to be believable.

There are vampires in the story, but they are of the creepy evil "Dracula" kind and not of the "romantic vampire hero" variety. Compared to many more recent vampire novels this one is pretty much "Back to Basics" --- meaning that the author stuck mostly to the myth created by Bram Stoker instead of inventing her own.

Why only 4 stars? Because, well ... there were a few moments in the story where that which happened (or which was being said) didn't seem very plausible to me. It wasn't enough to really annoy me, and it didn't take anything away from my overall enjoyment of the book, but I just don't feel that this is a 5 star book.

Still, I really liked "Descent into Dust" and am looking forward to reading the sequel.

I have to admit I never really got into the vampire genre. Ever since I finished reading Descent into Dust I can't wait for the next book in the series. I have developed an admiration for the strong, independent, female main character. I want to know what she's doing next, where she's going, who she's with... that she's safe! This book has love, intrigue, suspense. I recommended it to our book club and everyone seems to really like it. It's a really good read, not too long or too short, but definitely leaves you wanting more.

While i'm not entirely displeased with this novel, i'm not really excited about it, either. It seems to be a rehashed version of the same old vampire/vampire slayer story. Actually, throughout the first few chapters, i felt like Lepore had just sat through the entire first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and decided to rewrite it to her own liking. In Victorian-Era England. My main gripe with the book is that all of the 'odd coincidences' seem so forced. Robert just happens to know a guy who hunts vampires? Emma just happens to have an eccentric uncle - who just happens to be Romanian? Everything was stereotypical, nothing flowed naturally. There wasn't any real suspense, either. I also think Lepore tried too hard to make the reader believe that Emma was a strong heroine but this main character comes across rather flat.

Descent into Dust is a good read, but i'm not likely to pick it up again. I'm glad i borrowed it from the library, as opposed to buying it. Good read for a long trip, but nothing worth literary fireworks. Sorry Ms. Lepore.

P.S.- Also confused as to why this is classified (in some circles) as a romance. Ms. Lepore never got around to working any actual romance into the story!

First and foremost, this is an absolutely fantastic story, with richly-textured settings and intriguing, well-developed characters. Other reviews here have praised it for being a "gothic suspense" story, a "supernatural, vampire" tale, etc. I found that it was all of these, and a lot, lot more. This is a very well-constructed novel that works on every level. The author has set the bar very high for this series. The next one is already on my must-read list for next year!

A young widow in Victorian England, Emma Andrews is an independent and intelligent woman of means who finds her true purpose when a mysterious plague troubles the village in which her family resides. She discovers that the plague masks an ancient vampire who has come in search of something very powerful that has been hidden for centuries in the English countryside and that somehow he means to use her young cousin, Henrietta, to aid him.

In vowing to protect her beloved Henrietta, Emma finds out that she is destined to be a vampire-hunter, with heretofore hidden skills and gifts. However, dark memories of her dead mother's madness trouble Emma for she fears that she too will succumb to insanity. And although she forms alliances with Valerian Fox, another vampire-hunter, and Father Luke, a Catholic priest, Emma knows she cannot quite trust them, as they have their own motives that might in the end, betray her.

In a market bloated with paranormal lit, Descent into Dust by Jacqueline Lepore captured my rabid interest with the following opening passages, which are near perfection:

"Come in under the shadow of this red rock,
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
T.S. Elliot, The Wasteland (1920)

"Images of shadow and dust--how these words shattered me when I read them in this recently published poem, penned by one who could never know my story. Though the poet was a stranger, his verse took me in its fist and cast me on a rushing flood tide into the past, back to all which I have held in secret for this long time.

"With these words beckoning, rattling around in my brain and giving me no peace (I will show you fear in a handful of dust), I cannot resist the pull of memory. And though it is many decades later, it all comes back to me; back even to those early days, when the terror was new and I was dangerously untrained. When I was young and did not yet know I had a secret.

"And I think it is time. I feel it is. Time to tell my story. A truly remarkable story..."

Did the rest of Descent into Dust match the near perfection as promised by the opening passages? Mostly yes.

In trying to parse out what small dissatisfaction I had with the novel, I realized that my problem was surprisingly - the lack of emotional risk needed to amp up the sense of danger. Most of the novel is spent with the ancient vampire off-scene; we only meet him a couple of times, both of which are powerful scenes: one illustrating the power of his seductiveness and the other the depth of his depravity. So before those scenes, the story has to build him up through the danger to the victim, Henrietta. "She is the best of us," one character declares - and yet we meet a bland and not very endearing child. Although I was invested very much in Emma's welfare, I was not so much in Henrietta's (or maybe I'm just a callous reader who doesn't bat an eyelash when an innocent child becomes prey to a monster :))

Although Emma is fully fleshed out, Lepore's other minor characters need more dimension:

What's the deal with parents? How come they are consistently portrayed as being unable to figure out that something's wrong with their children? If my "precious" child were listless and talked all the time about a scary, imaginary friend, I would think I'd perk up and start monitoring her more closely.

Secondly, the stock gay character who's also a dandy. Hasn't this been done to death? The character of Sebastian, who proves himself to be brave in the end, is portrayed as catty, somewhat shallow, and at times very irritating. Can't we have gay characters that are less of a stereotype?

My minor dissatisfaction with Descent into Dust is ultimately outweighed by what it does succeed in doing, which is a fresh take on a vampire tale dripping with gothic style and containing elements of "Catholic traditions, world folklore, and Romantic literature" (per the author).

Conclusion: I am very curious to see where Lepore takes Emma Andrews next and I am so gonna buy the next book!

There are no sparkly vampires here! This is a good old-fashioned vampire story. Set in Victorian England Emma lives with the stigma of her mothers madness, she has been told her mother went mad and died but events take place that will make Emma question everything she has known and believed.

The cast of characters in the book was a nice mix from Emma's needy sister, the rouge Sebastian, the secretive Mr.Fox, and the even more mysterious Father Luke. As they work together to save Emma's niece Henrietta from what her parent's believe is an imaginary friend but is actually something far worse he is a vampire. Not a beautiful fall in love with vampire but an evil presence that threatens everything they hold dear.

I enjoyed this book it had a nice mix of Victorian propriety and gothic mystery. Emma was an interesting character as we watch her grow into the person she must become which is a Dhampir a vampire huntress. We see her inner turmoil as everything she believed of her life is wrenched away from her.

I look forward to the next installment in this series.

Thank you Librarything Early Reviewers for the chance to review this book!

I found myself savoring this book slowly like a fine wine. Descent into Dust is the first book in a new series about Emma Andrews. In the beginning of this book, Emma is writing down her story from many years ago when she first learned that she was a vampire hunter and a Dhampir. It was back in 1862 and Emma was 23 years old and she was going for an extended visit to her cousin's manor house. Soon after she arrives there, Emma begins to have visions and she becomes very concerned about her young cousin Henrietta and her odd behavior. She also hears about a mysterious plague in the village.

Emma meets a new house guest by the name of Valerian Fox, he knows that Emma is a Dhampir and he has been hunting the great vampire lord Marius for more time and centuries than Emma could imagine. Soon one of the horse grooms attempts to kill Emma and she discovers she is Dhampir. Emma and Valerian join forces to try to kill Marius before he can take her little cousin Henrietta. But Henrietta's governess's is in thrall to Marius and Emma is kicked out of the house by her cousin Mary and her husband. Emma goes in search of her Uncle for help, but she plans on returning in time to save her little cousin and hunt the vampire.

Two others that help Emma along the way are Sebastian, and Valerian and they are part of her core group. Valerian has secrets, some of which are revealed in Descent into Dust. Also joining Emma in her fight against the vampire is Father Luke from the church.

I don't think I am giving away any spoilers here. The next Emma Andrews book won't be out until March 2011, I for one will have it my list of books to get.