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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bloodsucker, June 30, 2007
Vrolok is a different type of vampire saga, and although it is a fairly long read, it never ceases to be entertaining. The author skillfully weaves in all sorts of historical characters that you never before associated with vampire lore, and crazy as this may sound, it really works.
The story revolves around Isabella, a headstrong girl who becomes a vrolok or vampire because of her thirst for knowledge, and follows her around the world as she satisfies her thirst for a different type of sustenance.
Vampires live an awfully long time once they can go out for a bite ever so often, and as a result, Isabella's story spans many centuries. From time to time, she switches between being a remorseless killer and having a conscience, and when she loves someone, it's always until death do they part. Fiercely loyal to her people and to one family in particular, Isabel does her best to protect those under her wing, but unfortunately things don't always go according to plan.
This book is recommended not only for bloodthirsty readers, but also for fans of romance novels, thrillers and historical fiction. History may have been subjected to some artistic license here, but unlike the main characters, this one certainly doesn't suck.
(To the tune of Hall & Oates "Maneater")
She'll only eat out at night
The mean and bloody type
Nothing you do will keep her from your spoor
Watching and waiting
Ooh, she's bitin' your neck, but her lips will want some gore
So many have paid her fee
Watch her drink, she's gettin' it free
The woman is wild, a she-wolf stained by the blood of those before
Blood's gonna splatter
If you're looking for love, you ain't gonna get too far
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Watch out boy she'll drink you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes) She's a bloodsucker
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Watch out boy she'll drink you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes) She's a bloodsucker
I wouldn't if I were you
I know what she can do
She's deadly man; she could really rip your throat apart
Mind over matter
Ooh, the beauty is there but a beast is in the heart
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Watch out boy she'll drink you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes) She's a bloodsucker
(Oh-oh, here she comes) Watch out boy she'll drink you up
(Oh-oh, here she comes) She's a bloodsucker
Rated: 4.5 stars
Amanda Richards, June 30, 2007
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well Worth Reading, June 6, 2006
Have you ever wondered where the author Bram Stoker got his idea for the novel Dracula. Well read this novel and you may well find out, or at the very least it will make you think.
Nolene-Patricia Dougan is a new author, but it is obvious that she has taken the time to learn her craft. It is also obvious to the reader that the book has been well researched.
The story begins on a battle field. Vlad Dracula is brought news of the death of his wife. Dracula becomes inconsolable with grief. He is a mighty warrior who has fought the Turks on many occasions, but nothing has touched him like the loss of his wife and he finds his way back to his castle in the Carpathians and lives such a reclusive life that the villagers close to the castle believe that he is dead.
Many years later a young woman called Isabella goes up to the castle from the village. She is accompanied by her friend who tries to talk her out of entering the castle which is looking dilapidated as though no one lives there any more. The women see what they think is a figure on top of the tower, but this turns out to be a wolf. Initially they are afraid, but the wolf seems tame and it befriends Isabella.
Eventually Vlad himself (the wolf), makes himself known to Isabella and over a period of time grows to want her for himself. Isabella, partly through her own fault becomes a vampire herself and the pair of them set out through the centuries meeting many famous people of the time, both in Europe and America, with dire consequences for some of them. Isabella remains young and beautiful and because of this she becomes the confidant of many rich and famous men through the centuries
Suffice to say this is a well written book and to go into any more detail would spoil it for the reader. I would however just say that those readers who are expecting the typical "Horror" story with buckets of blood and dripping fangs will probably be disappointed, or alternatively pleasantly surprised. It is well worth reading and I found the storyline first rate.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A bold, audacious, and fascinating reimagining of the vampire legend, January 27, 2007
VROLOK is an ambitious, wildly entertaining romp through history which manages to rewrite vampiric lore in the process. The story begins with Vlad Dracula, but that's where the similarity with virtually every other vampire novel you've ever read ends. The world borne of author Nolene-Patricia Dougan's imagination is like some alternate universe in which history and legend merge into a world that feels much like our own - until we see the true causes of each seemingly familiar effect. Dougan makes some fairly audacious changes to traditional vampire lore, including a rather brilliant recasting of Van Helsing, forcefully disproving the argument that there is nothing new under the sun in the vampire genre. Dougan's sense of playfulness with the story stretches a tad bit thin for me personally when she puts vampires alongside Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp in the American West, but this is quickly forgotten as she puts a deliciously evil bite into the novel's climactic final chapters. Isabella, the story's vampire protagonist, is a wonderfully developed character, and, like some of her temporary companions, it's sometimes easy to forget that she is something far removed from a charming and beautiful young woman, but Isabella has a way of reminding us all of exactly who and what she is.
A Slovak girl growing up in the shadow of Vlad's looming castle, it is Isabella's forthright curiosity that leads to her encounters with the legendary prince and her turning from human to vampire. Unable to face a family who believes her to be dead, she initially stays with Vlad, but theirs is a love-hate relationship from the very start. Although it gravitates over time to love, Isabella and Vlad seemed destined to spend most of their many, many years apart. Isabella's travels will take her far and wide in the centuries to come, but a part of her remains forever bound to her native Transylvania and her Slovak people. Always a woman of her word, she lives up to her commitment to protect the family of her best friend - and ultimately all of the Slovak people - even if it means overthrowing a government. Like most vampires, Isabella struggles at times with a guilty conscience, vowing to kill only those who deserve such a fate, but she never lets that get in the way of her feeding. And she lets nothing and no one stand between her and revenge against those who have wronged her. Isabella, to put it lightly, is quite a woman.
What makes Isabella's story truly fascinating, though, is the interweaving of so many legendary and historical characters into her centuries of existence. She is intimately connected (but not in the manner you might expect) with the legendary evil of Countess Bathory, hears Nostradamus' final prophecy (which refers to the important part she goes on to play in the French Revolution), saves the life of a young man named Napoleon Bonaparte, fights in several European wars as well as the War Between the States in America, befriends the aforementioned Doc Holliday, meets Bram Stoker (and a number of other famous historical figures), and ultimately exacts a cold, calculated, and vicious revenge upon the subjects of Stoker's novel Dracula, namely the Harkers, Dr. Seward, and Van Helsing. I really loved the way Dougan set everything up for such a momentous ending, especially in terms of Isabella's rather startling relationship with Van Helsing. Like a spider spinning her web, Dougan brings disparate story lines together in the end to make the story's climax particularly momentous and poignant - and, of course, rather vicious. If I were to tell you how Dougan connects all of these characters together, you might think it sounds like a joke, but Dougan pulls it all off with remarkable aplomb and effectiveness. Few writers would have the audacity to even make the effort, and only a few could actually pull it off so effectively. By the time you finish VROLOK, you will have gained a new perspective on everything you ever knew about vampires.
Isabella is not the kind of brooding, self-absorbed vampire you will find in the work of Anne Rice, even though her personal story is chock full of brood-worthy material - from the sister who betrayed her in life to her rather tragic relationship with Vlad to the descendant she mistakenly turns into a vampire to her extraordinary relationship with Van Helsing. I haven't even mentioned the vampiric enemies who attempt to kill her on several occasions or expounded upon the only means by which she can be killed (which makes for an integral part of the story). As you can see, there is a true abundance of riches worked into the plot of this extraordinary novel. It's unlike any vampire story I've ever read, and that is why I found VROLOK to be such an immensely enjoyable, fascinating read.
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