Necroscope (Mass Market Paperback)

by Brian Lumley (Author) "CENTRAL IN A DENSELY WOODED TRACT OF LAND NOT FAR out of the city-where the Serpukhov road passed through a saddle between low hills and..." (more)
Key Phrases: cruciform hills, undead thing, Harry Keogh, Gregor Borowitz, Max Batu (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Except to Harry Keogh, Necroscope. And what they tell him is horrifying.

In the Balkan mountains of Rumania, a terrible evil is growing. Long buried in hallowed ground, bound by earth and silver, the master vampire schemes and plots. Trapped in unlife, neither dead nor living, Thibor Ferenczy hungers for freedom and revenge.

The vampire's human tool is Boris Dragosani, part of a super-secret Soviet spy agency. Dragosani is an avid pupil, eager to plumb the depthless evil of the vampire's mind. Ferenczy teaches Dragosani the awful skills of the necromancer, gives him the ability to rip secrets from the mind and bodies of the dead.

Dragosani works not for Ferenczy's freedom but world domination. he will rule the world with knowledge raped from the dead.

His only opponent: Harry Koegh, champion of the dead and the living.

To protect Harry, the dead will do anything--even rise from their graves!


About the Author
Brian Lumley is the author of the bestselling Necroscope series of vampire novels. The first Necroscope, Harry Keogh, also appears in a collection of Lumley's short fiction, Harry Keogh and Other Weird Heroes, along Titus Crow and Henri Laurent de Marigny, from Titus Crow, Volumes One, Two, and Three, and David Hero and Eldin the Wanderer, from the Dreamlands series.

An acknowledged master of Lovecraft-style horror, Brian Lumley has won the British Fantasy Award and been named a Grand Master of Horror. His works have been published in more than a dozen countries and have inspired comic books, role-playing games, and sculpture, and been adapted for television.

When not writing, Lumley can often be found spear-fishing in the Greek islands, gambling in Las Vegas, or attending a convention somewhere in the US. Lumley and his wife live in England.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (January 15, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812521374
• ISBN-13: 978-0812521375
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (118 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,431 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love Necroscope, May 9, 2002

By	Plaque "Plaque" - See all my reviews

I'm not sure where to begin praising the Necroscope series. Let me try to break things down scientifically...

1. Brian Lumley's writing style is... unique. He truly shines during this series, but... buyer beware. He has a quirky style to say the least. Don't look for characters who mirror real-life. They don't. Don't look for his "pseudo-science" to make too much sense... it doesn't. But the rewards far outweigh any suspension of disbelief you'll have to excercise. DO look for quality, suspense filled writing that builds and builds until it hits the boiling point! DO look for some of the most inventive and original use of "blood-and-guts" ever to be put on paper, and somehow he manages to keep the descriptions eloquent and elegant.

2. These books contain, without question, the greatest vampire literature in the history of mankind. This is not a joke, nor is it blind worship of the author. Lumley's vampires are leaps and bounds above any other vampire characterizations you will ever find, period.

3. Lumley's use of stories-within-stories is also top notch. He is the only author I know (with the possible exception of older King) who can tell a very long and detailed history of a character or plotline (for hundreds of pages sometimes!) without losing his readers or becoming boring. You WANT to know what happened way back when, and when Lumley is finished, you crave more!

4. Lumley seems to be a bit of an enigma. I've read other works; The House of Doors (terrible), Psychomech (even worse), and Demogorgon (passable, I think, but I don't remember it AT ALL!). I have never come across an author who is sooo good at one particular brand of story or series, yet falls flat with everything else.

Anything else I say here would probably ruin the plots, so I will quit now. Buy this series.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First of only three good books in the series., May 20, 2001

By	Christopher Wanko "-C" (Nutley, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

People need to know some things about Brian Lumley's writing in general, and this series in particular.

My firm belief is that the idea had gone as far as it should have with the first three books. Of the subsequent novels, there's perhaps two good novels of material spread over about six books, more or less.

My advice is to get the first three, and then buy used copies of any others. After awhile, Lumley's egregious use of exclamation points wears on a reader. And, honestly, the ideas are better than his execution at times.

However, the *ideas* are incredibly good, and really, the first three books are excellent diversions and good reads. Not strictly "horror"- this isn't scary like Salem's Lot is scary- but if you made the first book into a movie, you'd probably have a box office hit grossing $100 million.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a CLASSIC, Lumley's vampires rock!!!, September 2, 1998

By A Customer

I have been reading this series of books since I was in sixth grade, and these books are masterpieces!!! I am not the biggest vampire fan around, I think they are old, overused and out of date. However, Lumley has found a way to make a story so gripping and so original, that NECROSCOPE is one of my favorite books of all time!! A war between the dead and vampires, MASTERWORK if you ask me!! This novel charicters are also original and they do the story justice! I am sure this book will become a classic read in the years to come. I also think it's a shame that authors like Anne Rice get well noted for their vampire novels, when they don't even come close to Lumley's vampires. Brian Lumley's work to me is just as good as William Peter Blatty's 'The Exorcist' of Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot.' You will understand me once you have read it. NECROSCOPE is the ultimate in vampire horror. (P.S., the other novels in the series are pretty good too, but I would only recommend the first three in the series, and NECROSCOPE:THE LOST YEARS. So let Lumley give you a vampire story with definition, and read this book! I'm only 15 and I love it!