Customer Reviews

The Dracula Dossier: A Novel of Suspense

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Dracula Dossier is an interesting take on two of late-19th century England's most famous legends: the story of Jack the Ripper, and Bram Stoker's inspiration for Dracula (Enriched Classics Series). Set in 1888, Stoker works for his friend Henry Irving's theatre company, when he meets the eccentric American doctor Tumblety, who has an uncanny ability to walk through locked doors. One night, out for a walk, Stoker sees his new friend turn a corner. At the exact same moment, Jack the Ripper's crime spree begins, and Stoker becomes the primary suspect.

The story, like Dracula (which wouldn't be published until seven years after this book takes place and was "inspired" by the events that take place in The Dracula Dossier), is told through a series of letters, journal entries, and telegrams, from Stoker's point of view. Therefore, Reese's instant challenge is to authenticate Stoker's language patterns--which he manages to do quite well here. It really feels as though Stoker's the one doing the talking, which I thought was a particular strength of this novel. The book is also accompanied by a series of "editor's" footnotes, which at first I thought were going to be distracting. However, the further I got into the book, the less I was bothered by them.

The book is also highly bizarre, almost to the extreme. As in Dracula, there's no room for subtlety here. The Dracula Dossier is not for the faint of heart; there's quite a lot of blood (understatement, perhaps?). The novel opens with Bram walking through the streets of New York with a bloody knife in his pocket, for example. In another scene, Stoker visits the house of the Wildes (parents of Oscar, who makes an appearance here) in London, where Sir William has an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, complete with mummy, on display in his library.

The only criticism I have of it is that it seemed to take a little while to get going: the true story doesn't begin until about halfway through, though there's some great setup beforehand. I'm not sure how much of this novel is fact and how much of it is fiction, but the story is entertaining, certainly. This book is an interesting hybrid of stories: Jack the Ripper and Dracula, of course, and Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White. So as you can imagine, this is a deliciously creepy book.

'The Dracula Dossier' is a new twist on the identity of the serial killer Jack the Ripper. The book is primarily a collection of journal entries and newspaper clippings by Bram Stroker, the author of 'Dracula'. Stroker is known to have once crossed paths with Dr. Francis J. Tumblety, the main suspect in the Ripper murders. James Reese takes the idea to a whole new level and expands on the view of Jack the Ripper as inhuman. Tumblety's character is very dark and horrific, Stroker and his allies are engaging characters, as are their attempts to stop 'Jack the Ripper'. The book does include a large number of footnotes on most pages, but in my experience they never distracted from the story, in fact, they could be helpful in giving more detail about the events or culture of the time. Also, there were thankfully only a few detailed descriptions of the Ripper victims, and they just add to the dark nature of the book. 'The Dracula Dossier' is separated into three main parts, the Day, the Night, and the Night Within the Night. This is fitting because the book gives a feeling of never ending darkness at times.

I deliberated before giving this a five rather than four star rating, but I feel this is an absolute must read for certain readers, those who have read and enjoyed Mary Shelly's FRANKENSTEIN, Bram Stoker's DRACULA, novels by Wilkie Collins and Sheridan Le Fanu. This of course is also must reading for serious readers of any literature dealing with Jack The Ripper.I admit that I did find the first 63 pages very laborious reading, especially since I carefully read the "editor's" footnotes. However, I found the effort quite worthwhile as I became acquainted with principle characters, all of whom are authentic historical personages. Besides Stoker, there are Lady Jane Wilde (oscar Wilde's mother), Thomas Henry Hall Caine (a writer who was a far more successful and popular novelist than Stoker during the late 19th century but now totally and with good reason forgotten), Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, and Constance Wilde.In the second section, we also meet most notably Dr. Francis Tumblety who remains one of the primary persons suspected of the infamous and heinous slayings. The latter half of the book includes Inspector Frederick Abberline who, as Jack The Ripper devotees realize, has been portrayed on the screen by the likes of Michael Caine and Johnny Depp. Also prominent in the book is the secret society, The Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn, an authentic group which is still in existence.The story itself is quite engrossing as it progresses through three stages: the introductory background, the growing menace, and the very chilling and explicit supernatural horror of the latter half. The narrative develops from its very gentile yet colorful portrait of 19th century English society into graphic and gross descriptions of the crimes and isn't recommended for timid readers with sensitive digestion.Again, this is very rewarding reading for those who love 19th century gothic literature, but will likely bore those who haven't progressed beyond contemporary horror literature such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and recent graphic novels.

Written in a very eloquent style, this book breaks the mold in format. It starts with a cover letter by Le Compte de Ville to an editor requesting utmost anonymity regarding the enlosed biography of Stoker and his Dracula notes, not wanting his name associated in any way with "the Crime of All Time and the devil that did it". Stoker's journal starts out very dramatically with a bloody scene in which Stoker has mysteriously sliced his hand. Following this scene, the character of Stoker writes his journal with great detail establishing history and building characters, including frequent footnotes, to the point of being tedious.

Unfortunately, the tedium became too much for me and about half way through, I gave up on the book entirely. This is the only book I've never finished.

Without doubt, the most striking feature of this work is the eerily resonant quality of the prose. It truly is very much as if Bram Stoker himself were being channelled through the pen of James Reese. The tone, the syntax, even the very semantics are quite similar. As indeed the structure of the plot and atmosphere and the totally spooky narration and description of late Victorian London, the Ripper's Whitechapel milieu, and the characterizations of Stoker's artsy/literary/theatre-ish circle. This is very classy writing and engaging storytelling. While there are similarities and comparisons can certainly be made to the work of Caleb Carr, Chelsea Yarbro (at least somewhat), even Dickens, a bit of Anne Rice (some lovely baroque descriptions), Kim Newman, and Christopher Golden, James Reese has a clear, strong, and original voice all his own. Perfect autumnal reading.

Told through diary entries, aides-de-memoire and letters, this is the story of Bram Stoker's reluctant involvement in the Jack the Ripper slayings in Victorian London. As manager of the Lyceum Theater, in the employ of the demanding and irascible Sir Henry Irving, Stoker is harried and exhausted, and the story begins with Stoker's bloody journey down Fifth Avenue. Through letters and diary entries, like Stoker's masterpiece, this tale of murder and the occult slowly evolves through Stoker's eyes and is a darkly rich one, indeed. With secondary characters such as the colorful Lady Jane Wilde (Oscar's mother), Ellen Terry, Constance Wilde, and the persistent Inspector Abberline, Stoker finds himself the unwilling sponsor of one Dr. Francis Tumblety into the theatrical and literary circles in which he moves.

To Stoker's dismay, Dr. Tumblety soon insinuates himself into the Lyceum Theater's inner sanctum as Sir Henry's friend, and into Lady Wilde's Saturday 'conversazioni', but discomfort turns into horror when Tumblety's true nature is revealed at an Egyptian ritual and the bloodletting begins. How Stoker and his intrepid friends resolve the Ripper killings is a wonderful read indeed, culminating in a chilling denouement in the dungeon of Edinburgh Castle. Reese is a master of atmosphere and subtle humor, and paints vivid portraits of Stoker and his friends. An unexpected treat is the active participation of historical characters, who behave exactly as one would expect.

Why 'Dracula' in the title? Through annotations and footnotes, the reader follows Stoker's thought processes and inspiration for writing the ultimate horror novel.

This is exactly the kind of novel I most enjoy, and while the Victorian style and lengthy footnotes might not be to everyone's taste, I thoroughly enjoyed it. This would be a great book to read in the dead of winter, curled up in the warm safety of one's own library.

Ever wonder what the inspiration for "Dracula" was for Bram Stoker? Well, this period thriller tries to answer that question as he races through London's night life trying to stop Jack the Ripper. This is very reminiscent of "The Poe Shadow" in that it involves characters you'd recognize in situations you wouldn't expect. It's a fast-moving story that really keeps you involved. It seems to stumble over itself in a few places, but otherwise it's good. Definitely nice for a short, light read.

The Dracula Dossier presents another fine experiment in prose style from the author of The Book of Spirits and The Witchery. Reese wrote the book in a style closely imitative of Stoker's as it is supposedly from the author of Dracula himself. It is mostly presented as Stoker's journal, in fact. However, it appears that Reese is limited to one or two prose styles per novel, which limitation works to lessen his achievement in this connection.

Prose experiments are not new. The most important literary age for this may have come and gone in the 17th and 18th centuries with the epistelary novel (a novel written in letters between the characters, sometimes including journal or diary entries as well). In such a novel, each character had a necessarily individual style that helped to distinguish each character from another. I hold that The Dracula Dossier would have been a much richer book for including the diary entries and letters of other characters involved, such as Lady Wilde, the mother of Oscar Wilde, and Hall Caine, another victorian novelist well involved in the plot. Reese fails to take the opportunity to use these historic literary personages as writers in his novel, and so as readers we only get to read Reese's recreation of Stoker's prose. It left me wondering why James Reese would abandon such an opportunity. As great as The Dracula Dossier is, it would have been a much greater book if he had done as I've described. Most likely, his focus on Stoker is due to a fascination with the man himself, and so The Dracula Dossier is itself a tribute to Stoker, which is fine. I'm just saying this because I've read his past novels, and in each one Reese seems to focus on one character and one prose style, very well executed but still only one. He has done this before, and I am waiting for him to do more, to give us more, because I know he can.

Rather than being a story about Dracula, The Dossier is a a story about Jack the Ripper, and how the events of that story, as presenced by Stoker and co., may have inspired the classic Dracula. Reese cleverly connects the Jack the Ripper murders and the Dracula story, harvesting the sensationalism of both to create an engrossing and well-written thriller. I was not disappointed and neither will you be.

The Dracula Dossier is fascinating, yet gruesome, tale that joins together the author of Dracula, Bram Stoker, and Jack the Ripper. In this story, James Reese gives an interesting spin on how Stoker and other famous literary figures band together to put a stop to the killing spree that breaks out in the Whitechapel district of London.

Set mostly in 1888, we learn of Stocker prior to his career of writing that would include Dracula. The reader finds him unhappily toiling away for Henry Irving at the Lyceum Theater in London. Thought married with a young son, Stoker's source of happiness seems to come more from his relationship to Lady Jane Wilde, aka, Speranza, of the highly talented literary Wilde family. Meanwhile Stoker's dear friend Thomas Henry Hall Caine dispatched his "friend" Francis Tumblety, a quack American doctor to visit London. As Tumblety intersects with Stoker at different places, he eventually goes on a killing spree attributed to Jack the Ripper. The bulk of the novel deals with Stoker and Co.'s attempts to end the bloodshed.

As the cover indicates, Reese's novel is a story of suspense. For the most part he succeeds in keeping the tension high and a good pace that keeps you wanting to read more. I was initially concerned about the structure of the book as it is comprised largely of journal entries and letters penned by Stoker. However, Reese does a good job of maintaining continuity as the medium of the narrative changes frequently. I did find it somewhat difficult to get into a good rhythm in reading the story as there is no real consistency in the length of the different entries. Some were half a page while others were 20 or more pages.

Reese did a good job of researching the material for The Dracula Dossier as he included numerous footnotes that expounded on the characters. I thought he also did a good job of alluding to things that one finds in Stoker's Dracula. This gave the novel a sense of being "based on a true story". Reese's characters were believable too whether Caine's frail sanity or Speranza's haughtiness.

However, readers should be advised of a couple of things. The Dracula Dossier contains a wealth of human and animal death described in a fair amount of detail. In addition, some of the main story points revolve around prostitution and other sexual perversions although these are more mentioned in passing by way of comparison. Finally, there are strong ties to pagan ritual and demons. Both are presented in as antagonistic factors rather than glorified.

Overall, The Dracula Dossier is a well written novel for its genre. If you like historically based murder/thriller stories, this is worth considering.

Bestselling author James Reese has captivated readers with his dark gothic tales of the hemaphrodite witch Herculine; now, in his fourth foray into the genre, he turns to the early life of author Bram Stoker before the publication of "Dracula", mining the controversies surrounding Jack the Ripper to present a chilling and painstakingly authentic recreation of Victorian England.

Overworked by his mercurial and overpowering boss, surrounded by some of the finest minds of his age, Stoker finds himself at loss in his life. While he enjoys his work as a theatre manager, his marriage is one of loveless convenience; he struggles inwardly with his own latent homosexuality; and his writing attempts have been less than stellar. The arrival of an enigmatic American doctor changes everything when one night during a walk in Whitechapel, Stoker spots the doctor in suspicious circumstances. Soon thereafter, a prostitute is found disemboweled, and with the discovery that a cherished knife of his has gone missing Stoker is plunged into a dangerous gambit to clear his name and reveal who the mysterious killer stalking Whitechapel is.

The endemic fear that Jack the Ripper created during his savage reign is expertly conveyed through Stoker's meticulous eye. Using the framing device of a dossier written by Stoker and anonymously submitted to an editor at William Morrow publishers, Mr Reese draws upon the Victorian tradition of journals and letters to tell his tale, cleverly foreshadowing the creation of Stoker's vampiric masterpiece. Such Victorian luminaries as the Wilde family and the poet Yeats make guest appearances; a generous use of footnotes offer tantalizing additional information.

While some readers may find Reese's employment of Victorian-era language and styling difficult to overcome at first, perseverance will yeild unexpected rewards as this novel gains its spell-binding momentum. Deliberately evoking the works of past masters, he depicts an era of claustrophobic terror and repression - one in which a murderer terrorized an entire city and an unknown writer finally found his voice.