Bloodline (Hardcover)

by Kate Cary (Author) "Just a few short lines to let you know I've arrived at the front..." (more)
Key Phrases: holy wafers, fire step, Captain Harker, Miss Seward, Lieutenant Shaw (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–This story is an interesting blend of mystery, horror, and romance, and readers who love vampire novels will find it a refreshing twist to the classic story. Mary Seward recognizes the patient who has just been brought into the Purfleet sanatorium. It is Lt. John Shaw, who lives in the mansion near the hospital along with his sister Lily. Hoping to help him, Mary begins to read his diary, written during his tenure in the trenches in France during the Great War. John describes his encounters with a Captain Quincey Harker, a brave but bloodthirsty leader. Lily meets Captain Harker during one of her visits, they fall in love, and he takes her home to Romania to be married. However, Quincey is the son of Count Tepes and Mina Harker, and he has taken Lily to Dracula's Castle to fulfill the family's destiny. Lily and John are also connected to Count Tepes, as John is the son of Count Tepes and Rosemary Shaw. As the wedding day draws near, the full story of the family is revealed. Lily is faced with a dilemma–to live forever as a vampire or to end it all. Written in diary format with excerpts from each main character, this novel continues the saga of Count Dracula with a new generation. Each character is fully realized, as are the environs that surround them. Although readers know that something binds the characters together, the author maintains suspense until the end. –Jana R. Fine, Clearwater Public Library System, FL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 7-10. The journal entries of Captain Quincey Harker, Lieutenant John Shaw, Lily Shaw, and Mary Seward tell a tale of vampiric connection by shared bloodline. John Shaw is a World War I communications officer in the trenches under Harker's command. A large and striking man, Harker demonstrates exceptional strength, an iron will, and a terrifying battlefield bloodlust. Despite John's growing reservations about Harker's ethics and perhaps even his sanity, he finds he cannot rid himself of his captain, even when sent home to convalesce after being gravely wounded. Harker, who joins him not long after, takes a decided interest in John's sister, Lily. When Lily is enticed from her home to become Harker's bride in Transylvania, John and Mary (John's nurse/fiancee), realize that this will not be a wedding sanctioned by God and set out to stop it. With the exception of time frame and journal format, there's little that's new here, and following a moody and leisurely buildup, the ending feels rushed. Still, a solid vampire story is always compelling, and this eminently readable book will find fans. Holly Koelling
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Razorbill (August 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595140123
• ISBN-13: 978-1595140128
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #385,856 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terror of the Trenches, January 26, 2007

A Kid's Review

Is your life lacking suspense and thrill? If so, Bloodline is the book for you! This thrilling story begins when Lt. John Shaw is given a journal from his sister before he is shipped out to the wet, dirty trenches of World War I. In this red journal, Lt. Shaw records his life in the trenches, and the horrible nightmare that follows.
His head officer, Capt. Quincey Harker is a fearless leader, but to Shaw, there is also something sinister about him. Capt. Harker goes off on night raids alone to the enemy trenches. Sometimes, shrieks of terror can be heard from across no-mans' land. One night while Harker is out on his raids, Shaw picks up a disturbing German radio signal. "Evil walks...The men are dead...Slaughtered like animals...No one left." This starts the twisting, turning plot that gives you the thrill and suspense you get when you see a scary horror movie. When the Germans invade the trench, Harker sets about trying to stop the Germans like every other man, but when he kills one with his saber, he drags him into a dark recess in the walls of the trench. This makes you wonder what exactly is happening. When Shaw picks up the radio call, he scrambles across no-man's land to have a look at the German trench. There is no one alive, and the trench floor is covered with blood. In the distance, Shaw sees a black shape holding a German soldier's neck in its mouth. Cary describes the scene so well that you can feel John's fear. Also, in Transylvania, near Castle Dracula, the shepherds' staffs have big crosses on the top to ward off vampires. Furthermore, every structure in the village is dressed in garlic for the same purpose as the staffs. In addition the suspense and thrill, Bloodline is well written in a creative way. The story is told through the journals of four completely different characters. Lt. John Shaw, the victim of a complicated, evil plan, Mary Steward, Shaw's soon to be wife, Lily Shaw, another victim and John's brother, and finally Capt. Quincey Harker, the vampire and executer of the sinister plan. The varied settings like the muddy trenches of WWI, the sanatorium, Carfax Hall, Transylvania, and Castle Dracula never get boring. Each is so different that you wonder how they are all related. Cary described the trenches as "a dark world of narrow alleyways...the earth walls rose eight feet on either side of me as I climbed down into the huge trough. For a moment, I wondered if this must be what it is like descending into one's own grave." I felt like I was there; it sounded so real. I could not put the book down; the story kept drawing me in. Every page is filled with such excitement that you can't stop for fear of losing it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars *The Greatest Book Ever Written ~, March 5, 2007

By	The Secret "Phoenix" - See all my reviews

I found this book in the public library; what caught my eye was the name of the book; the name Bloodline seems so Mysterious it draws you in and you cant help but find out why exactly is the book called like that!
Personally I am searching 4 my own family Bloodline * my past * So this book has come just in time; In the sense that I can relate 2 the characters desperate 2 know the family's past; if they really have a important bloodline that they carry in their veins... then again not many people know the secret...
Anyway only a few pages into this book & I knew I was into something really good. This Book has it all!! Its Amazing = Better than the old boring version of Dracula > who some say is a Eternal Classic { yeah whatever if you're into that version; But Bloodline delivers what you want in a book;
Romance,Horror,Gore,mysterious unpredictable characters that when you think you have someone so figured out they turn around with a shocking twist! The cleverness of Kate Cary is Outstanding that she should be the next J.K. Rowling * Yeah alright I dared 2 make that statement, But I fully support this book* Its everything I wanted and more...
and I cant wait 2 read the sequel Bloodline Book two..
If this book get's turned into a movie I wouldnt be surprised : )
*A diamond in the rough*

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, October 26, 2005

By	S. Feakins (California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was gripped, couldn't wait for the story to unfold and had to keep reading. There are love stories entwined with the vivid darker happenings, so there are messages of hope and goodness along with the dark and gory side. The plot develops with some really neat twists, some of which you anticipate, some you don't...