Draculas: A Novel of Terror [Paperback]

Jack Kilborn (Author), Blake Crouch (Author), J.A. Konrath (Author), F. Paul Wilson (Author), Jeff Strand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2010

A DYING MAN'S GREATEST TREASURE...

Mortimer Moorecook, retired Wall Street raider, avid collector, is losing his fight against cancer. With weeks to live, a package arrives at the door of his hillside mansion-an artifact he paid millions for...a hominoid skull with elongated teeth, discovered in a farmer's field in the Romanian countryside. With Shanna, his beautiful research assistant looking on, he sinks the skull's razor sharp fangs into his neck, and immediately goes into convulsions.

OPENS THE DOOR TO AN ANCIENT EVIL...

A rural hospital. A slow night in the ER. Until Moorecook arrives strapped to a gurney, where he promptly codes and dies.

WHERE DEATH IS JUST THE BEGINNING.

Four well-known horror authors pool their penchants for scares and thrills, and tackle one of the greatest of all legends, with each writer creating a unique character and following them through a vampire outbreak in a secluded hospital.

The goal was simple: write the most intense novel they possibly could.

Which they did.

A Word of Warning:

Within these pages, you will find no black capes, no satin-lined coffins, no brooding heartthrobs who want to talk about your feelings. Forget sunlight and stakes. Throw out your garlic and your crosses. This is the Anti-TWILIGHT.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1456331183
• ISBN-13: 978-1456331184
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (259 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #594,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

F. PAUL WILSON is an award-winning, NY Times bestselling novelist whose work spans horror, adventure, medical thrillers, science fiction, young adult, and virtually everything between. He is best known as the author of THE KEEP and creator of the urban mercenary Repairman Jack.

JACK KILBORN is a pen name of J.A. Konrath, who has written six Jack Daniels thrillers. The seventh, SHAKEN, will be available this October. Kilborn is the author of AFRAID, ENDURANCE, TRAPPED, and SERIAL UNCUT, (written with Blake Crouch) which has been downloaded more than 250,000 times.

JEFF STRAND is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of such novels as PRESSURE, DWELLER, GRAVEROBBERS WANTED (NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY), BENJAMIN'S PARASITE, and THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE. His secret shame is SUCKERS, co-written with J.A. Konrath.

BLAKE CROUCH is the author of four thrillers, DESERT PLACES, LOCKED DOORS, ABANDON, and SNOWBOUND, all published by St. Martin?s Press. His short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen, THRILLER 2, and other anthologies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1456331183
• ISBN-13: 978-1456331184
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (259 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #594,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A fangtastic read October 8, 2010

By Edward G. Talbot - Thriller author

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Vile pun aside, I enjoyed this book a lot. It delivers exactly what the authors promised: in-your-face, gory, vampire horror. I am not a huge fan of gory horror, but I enjoy it when done well. And Draculas was done well.

So what was good? For starters the initial concept. I won't spoil it, but the trigger for the appearance of the vampires was cool and unexpected.

The writing was also good. The authors clearly put in some effort with editing and it paid off. I suspect having four of them made editing a lot more effective. The book had the kind of prose that makes you want to skip sentences because it is so effectively creating tension that you don't want to wait to find out what's going to happen. Exactly right for this kind of horror thriller.

The best thing about the book in my opinion is the characters. Quite a few compelling characters, with a good balance of cliche and uniqueness. In fact, the well-drawn characters and their motivations gave the book more of a thriller feel in many places than a straight horror feel. Along with the oodles of gore, I cared about the characters.

So was anything not done well? I give the book a really solid four stars, so everything was done pretty well. I suppose I would have enjoyed more history and context for the vampires themselves, but I think others will like the fact that the vampires are mostly just vicious and out of control. Just personal preference.

Bottom line, if you like horror, or you like thrillers and don't mind gore along with it, you need to buy Draculas. At $2.99,it should be a no-brainer.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Expect To Sleep Well October 11, 2010

By FancyPants

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Blake Crouch, J.A. Konrath, Jeff Strand, and F. Paul Wilson are four of the sickest 'motherhuggers' I've had the pleasure to read. The introduction to 'Draculas' warns the reader, "If you're easily disturbed, have a weak stomach, or are prone to nightmares, stop reading right now." Man, they weren't kidding! No one could say I'm any of the three -- on a normal day. But when you're reading 'Draculas', your days aren't normal. And your nights are especially freaky! In the four days I spent with these monsters, I dreamed of them every night -- and not in a warm, fuzzy, Robert-Pattinson-taking-me-out-for-a-rootbeer-float kind of way.

Other reviewers have done a fine job of synopsizing the story, so I'll skip that part. There's really not much to it, anyway. Hideous vampires run rampant in a small town's hospital, and precious few live to tell about it: This is their story. If you're looking for a profound message in the pages of 'Draculas', you're looking in the wrong place. This book is a gore-fest! But it's not limited to gore. There's actual substance behind those ropy strands of bloody drool. The authors did an amazing job of making the reader actually care about the characters, even the vampires. This is no easy feat when said vampire is getting ready to chomp into the throat of your favorite human. And the humor infused throughout the story really helped to ease my thrumming heartbeat. There were almost as many laugh-out-loud moments as there were bile-inducing moments. And, best of all, there were very few cheap shots -- the humor was unique, solid and honest. Most importantly in a novel about supernatural activity, 'Draculas' does an excellent job of 'legitimizing' the backstory to make it believable to modern audiences.... There's nothing mystical and magical about these vampires -- they're real-life monsters, and they're hungry.

As others have noted, about half the e-book is the novel, the other half is bonus material -- an interesting collection of material related to the story, as well as unrelated short stories by the authors. As a writer, I found the email exchange between the quartet particularly fascinating. Collaboration such as this is unprecedented, and an amazing accomplishment that all four should be proud of.

All that said, I do have a few critiques. A handful of the scenes felt a little rushed; less polished than the rest. This in no way reduced my enjoyment of the book as a whole, but it did give a moment or two of pause. Also, the characters were fairly cliched. The authors did a great job of bringing depth to even the most one-dimensional of the lot, but I would have liked to have seen less stereotyping (the arrogant doctor, the bumbling lumberjack, the gun-nut cop, the ruthless millionaire, etc.). Finally, I'm not a big fan of open endings. 'Draculas' was obviously Part 1 of a who-knows-how-many series. I don't have a problem with this as a concept, but I do feel slightly disappointed that there was no final resolution at the end. I'm certain that I will purchase and enjoy any follow-up installments, but I would have liked to have known what I was getting into from the start.

If you're a fan of horror, you'll really get a kick out of 'Draculas'. If you enjoy good writing at a killer pace, buy it now. If you're a delicate flower who winces at the violence in Twilight, go no further. In fact, go home, pull the shades, order some pizza, and watch The Sound of Music for the umpteenth time. This is not the book for you!

FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm a fan of one of Konrath's blogs but had never read any of his - or the other authors' - fiction. When a full copy of 'Draculas' was offered for free in exchange for a truly honest review, I jumped at the chance. Clearly they were hoping for positive reviews, but in no way required it. This is the same review I would have written had I purchased the e-book for the measly $2.99 list price.

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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Draculas would give Quentin Tarantino the vapors! October 16, 2010

By barbara silkstone

Format:Kindle Edition

Draculas would give Quentin Tarantino the vapors!

Spawned by an ancient virus, their talons click on the linoleum of the Blessed Crucifixion Hospital as they work their bloody way from the maternity ward to pediatrics. Layer on layer of terror accompanied by that creepy clicking sound. I couldn't put the book down long enough to get a second bowl of buttered popcorn. This is the real deal. How vampires should behave. No suave George Hamilton vamps, no gentle Edward Cullen, these creatures know how to get under your skin and stay there. Carnage and heroism from multiple points of view take place in the most vulnerable spot on earth - a hospital. Where can you find the most blood? Same place. Four great authors... I've always enjoyed the brotherhood of horror writers. They're some of the nicest people on earth. Maybe that's because they get it all out there on the page? Congrats to Blake Crouch, Joe Konrath, F. Paul Wilson, and Jeff Strand. And thanks for the review copy. A completely engrossing, satisfying, wet-horror read. I loved it!
Now if I could just turn out the lights.

P.S. I've always enjoyed the brotherhood of horror writers. They are some of the nicest people on earth - generous with advice and encouragement. Maybe they're so kind because they exorcise all their demons on the printed page. After writing DRACULAS, these four authors should be as gentle as kittens.

Barbara Silkstone
The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars More like zombies October 21, 2010

By Heliosue

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

FWIW, those of you expecting a more old fashioned vampire story (e.g. suspenseful and frightening), will probably not find this particular book to be your cup of tea. The story is not badly written, but it will seem most familiar to those of you who are aficionados of gory zombie movies. These "Draculas" honestly are much more like zombies than the good old vampires many of us used to know and love. I am definitely not a fan of the very popular new-fangled (no pun intended) romantic vampire characters and their stories, and was hoping for something more subtle and yet still frightening. I did not find "Draculas" to be at all frightening, but maybe you will, especially if you like "in your face" blood and gore and fast paced action. This book definitely has lots of both.