A package arrives at the desk of a young editor at a New York publishing house, purporting to be a collection of letters and journal entries belonging to Bram Stoker. The anonymous sender refers to it as the "Dracula Dossier." The papers disclose a series of events in Stoker's life that occurred when he worked for Irish theater-actor Henry Irving in 1888 and before he wrote his famous novel. The prolog promises a riveting tale of suspense, even horror, and there are moments of tension and fear, but for the most part the novel is dull and tedious. Readers familiar with the Dracula story will realize that Stoker is meeting people and having experiences that directly influenced his best-known work (Jack the Ripper plays a part). An interesting plot lurks somewhere within this story. Too bad Reese (The Witchery; The Book of Spirits; The Book of Shadows ) could not bring it to fruition. Not recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/15/08.]-Patricia Altner, BiblioInfo.com, Columbia, MD
Reese (The Book of Shadows, 2002, etc.) sends Jack the Ripper after Bram Stoker in yet another fog-laden tale of mutilation. Giving the man who invented Dracula a horror story of his own, the author re-creates Stoker's real-life world and friends: theater impresario Henry Irving, novelist Thomas Henry Hall Caine, Lady Jane Wilde (Oscar's mom) and assorted others. Their fictional adventures are chronicled in Stoker's journals, correspondence and press clippings, contained in a dossier that turns up when an anonymous correspondent forwards them to a present-day editor at William Morrow. Reese relegates whatever insights these documents offer into the writer's creativity to an annoying plethora of footnotes. He's after bloodier stuff, and he delivers it when Stoker, at Lady Wilde's behest, visits a session of the Order of the Golden Dawn. There he espies Dr. Francis Tumblety, an American quack physician, at the center of a phantasmagoric ritual replete with scorpions, bleeding wounds and writhing serpents. From then on, Tumblety, possessed by an evil spirit, stalks Stoker, intoning his name in the London streets and leaving a dead cat and mouse and bags of blood at the author's home. Stoker learns from Caine that Tumblety's wardrobe holds jars containing preserved "female organs of generation," which the demented doctor obtained from physicians and body snatchers. The American also holds a stash of letters detailing an intimate affair he shared with Caine, thus preventing Stoker's friend from turning to police for fear of arrest for indecent behavior. When someone begins carving up London prostitutes, the killer's handiwork is described explicitly and gratuitously in news accounts and policereports. Convinced that Tumblety is the serial murderer, Stoker dubs him Jack the Ripper as he, Caine and Lady Wilde plot none too cleverly to bring down the bloodthirsty villain. Gore and gothic trappings mask a thin, wobbly plot.
[A] scrupulously imagined thriller...a rip-roaring penny dreadful that compels reading to the end.” — Publishers Weekly
“[I]nvolving, richly detailed... will surely delight fans…as well as convert new readers” — Booklist
“[C]ompelling sequel...the many varied settings and particulars of the time period are vividly portrayed.” — Publishers Weekly
“A sweeping narrative of period and peril [that] transports the reader into an undiscovered realm of erotica...” — The Jackson Clarion-Ledger
“A spellbinding tale with a truly enchanting heroine.” — Kelley Armstrong, author of Bitten
“A novelist of immense talent and promise, and a story that seeps into the mind like a potion.” — Caleb Carr
“[L]ush and engaging.” — New Orleans Times-Picayune
“Expertly researched, lavishly detailed and lushly written...an atmosphere so vivid you can smell it, and remarkably striking characters.” — Diana Gabaldon
“Distinguishes Reese as a star pupil in the Anne Rice school of dark sensuality.” — Publishers Weekly
“Delectable.” — Washington Post Book World
“Darkly erotic...lavishly told...Prepare to put your life on hold for 468 pages and immerse yourself.” — Tampa Tribune
“James Reese’s startling second novel is filled with magic and heartbreak…It is a sumptuous feast for the senses.” — Eric Van Lustbader , New York Times bestselling author
“It’s marvelous to have one so eloquent exploring and transcending the gothic genre.” — Anne Rice
“Vivid characters...painstaking research...delectable.” — Washington Post Book World
“THE DRACULA DOSSIER is as powerful in its imagination as it is in its dedication to historical detail and social reflection. But what’s more is that it’s a damn good thriller...With Bram Stoker and Jack the Ripper along for the ride, you can’t go wrong with this book.” — Michael Connelly
“Not only does THE DRACULA DOSSIER grip us with its fast paced hunt for history’s most notorious killer, it also enchants us with sophisticated and lyrical recreations of its unique period and strong characters. A daring achievement.” — Matthew Pearl, author of THE DANTE CLUB
“The Dracula Dossier is ...an homage in style and structure to its namesake novel, an engrossing look into the lives of eminent Victorians, and a smashing, scary read.” — St. Petersburg Times
“Those who enjoy gothic novels set in Victorian times…will revel in James Reese’s story…Seamlessly blurring the line between fact and fiction, the book is both characters study and speculative fiction folded into a well-told tale.” — Pittsburgh Tribune
“...a mesmerizing blend of fact and fiction, with plenty of Gothic chill.” — Miami Herald
...a mesmerizing blend of fact and fiction, with plenty of Gothic chill.
Those who enjoy gothic novels set in Victorian times…will revel in James Reese’s story…Seamlessly blurring the line between fact and fiction, the book is both characters study and speculative fiction folded into a well-told tale.
The Dracula Dossier is ...an homage in style and structure to its namesake novel, an engrossing look into the lives of eminent Victorians, and a smashing, scary read.
Not only does THE DRACULA DOSSIER grip us with its fast paced hunt for history’s most notorious killer, it also enchants us with sophisticated and lyrical recreations of its unique period and strong characters. A daring achievement.
THE DRACULA DOSSIER is as powerful in its imagination as it is in its dedication to historical detail and social reflection. But what’s more is that it’s a damn good thriller...With Bram Stoker and Jack the Ripper along for the ride, you can’t go wrong with this book.
It’s marvelous to have one so eloquent exploring and transcending the gothic genre.
James Reese’s startling second novel is filled with magic and heartbreak…It is a sumptuous feast for the senses.
Darkly erotic...lavishly told...Prepare to put your life on hold for 468 pages and immerse yourself.
Vivid characters...painstaking research...delectable.
Washington Post Book World
Expertly researched, lavishly detailed and lushly written...an atmosphere so vivid you can smell it, and remarkably striking characters.
[L]ush and engaging.
New Orleans Times-Picayune
A novelist of immense talent and promise, and a story that seeps into the mind like a potion.
A spellbinding tale with a truly enchanting heroine.
A sweeping narrative of period and peril [that] transports the reader into an undiscovered realm of erotica...
The Jackson Clarion-Ledger
[I]nvolving, richly detailed... will surely delight fans…as well as convert new readers
