I can hear dead people (Necroscope - Brian Lumley)

Member Name: Lady_Muck

Product:	Necroscope - Brian Lumley
Date:	25/08/01 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: original ideas, excellent story telling, well written

Disadvantages: a little lengthy

The first part of an unusual and refreshing take on the vampire/necromancer mythos', told in an immensely atmospheric way by one of the best horror/thriller authors going.

Lumley's characterisations remain strong all the way through the books, and although his scenes are very descriptive, they do not descend into the gore of certain other authors, he manages to get the same effect through powerful story telling and scene settings.

The storyline in 'Necroscope' follows the life of a young man with a special talent, Harry Keogh can 'talk' to the dead, and as everything progresses and Keogh accepts his gift, they help him in the greatest battle of his life. He is inducted into the secret service ESPer division, where he finds himself head to head with his Russian counterpart, Boris Dragosani, an adversary who uses the far more deviant methods of necromancy to gain information from the dead.
Another aspect of the story (which is covered far more deeply in the following books) is that of the Wamphyri (Brian Lumley's Vampires) in the form of Thibor Ferenczy, and mention is made of both Faethor and Janos Ferenczy (who are both pretty much major characters in their own right later on in the series).

I was used to the traditional 'Dracula' style vampire and the idea of a complete re-writing of the vampire mythos didn't appeal to me, but Necroscope was lent to me to read, and the ideas in there sort of mould themselves to fit in with the original mythology, but adapt and expand it to give it a new life of it's own.

An enjoyable series of books which expanded from the original 5, and even moved away from the main plotline and expanded on some of the supporting characters.

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