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Review: Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

Writer's picture: Julia BrennanJulia Brennan
"Monsters are only as real as the stories that grant them life. And they only live for as long as we tell those tales."

My Rating: ★★★★≛


Genre(s): Young Adult, Mystery, Horror, Historical Fiction


Publication: September 17, 2017 (Jimmy Patterson)


 

***CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR STALKING JACK THE RIPPER***


 

Are you a fan of creepy castle boarding schools in Romania or Draculean murder mysteries based on small-town folklore? If you're not sure, no worries -- I wasn't either until I read Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco.


This second installment in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series finds Audrey Rose and Thomas engaging with both of these things as they recover from the aftermath of the Ripper murders. Upon learning that her brother, Nathaniel, was behind the gruesome series of Whitechapel murders, Audrey Rose leaves London with Thomas to study at the Academy of Forensic Medicine and Science in Romania. Of course, in true murder-mystery fashion, the school -- located in Bran Castle, which once belonged to Vlad the Impaler himself -- becomes steeped in folkloric murder inspired by Dracula and the strigoi. Where else would they find bodies to study, right?


Between the academy's severe and surly headmaster and the castle's sprawling, horror-filled, and forbidden underground tunnels maintained by an archaic order of the Romanian nobility, Audrey Rose and Thomas find themselves tackling an even more unsettling mystery than that of the Ripper murders. This book's setting was darkly eerie, and it only served to enhance the intrigue behind the murders. The story felt steeped in history in a way that was not quite so prominent in the first book, and it made the plot feel bigger and more real.


Aside from the setting-heavy plot, my favorite thing about this book was the character conflict. There is a lot of interesting tension between Audrey Rose and Thomas surrounding their growing bond and Audrey Rose's fear of being ordered about or spoken for by a man. Her own inner conflict coupled with Thomas's blatant affection for her create a sort of push-and-pull dynamic between the two which is both amusing and distressing to observe. However, it makes for many moments that are either charming or hilarious, or sometimes both, and I ended up loving these characters even more for it. The development of their relationship continues to be my absolute favorite aspect of this series.


As for the murder mystery itself, I found it much more complex and enthralling than that of the first book. Murders modeled after those committed by both vampires and vampire hunters, bodies surrounded by bats and spiders and wolves in dark tunnels and snowy forests, dangerous riddles, missing friends, a secret society whose intentions are unclear -- there was so much happening, and it was much more enjoyable to try to fit all of these seemingly unrelated pieces together to solve the puzzle. I did not, however, manage to figure out for myself who was behind the murders, which I've always found preferable -- I'd much rather be surprised than correct when it comes to murder mysteries.


My only real gripe about this book is that Audrey Rose seems to come to terms with the truth about Nathaniel far too quickly. She clearly suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder for the first third of the book, which I do think was well done, but it seems that, at some point, she completely overcomes her trauma, and it's not really discussed from that point on. I think Maniscalco could have done a better job of showing that Audrey Rose was not healed, but that she was able to accept her trauma and cope with it. Perhaps this is simply lost in the flurry of events that leads to the truth of this new series of murders, but it does seem a little hard to believe that, toward the end of the book, Audrey Rose is able to face such horror without much acknowledgment of the Ripper murders and their own horrors.


I do, however, very much appreciate that Maniscalco has created a Victorian-era series that manages to confront topics like mental health as well as sexism and same-sex relationships. For the most part, the ways in which Audrey Rose (and Thomas, for that matter) deals with these things make her a bit of a feminist icon to me, and she is definitely a heroine that young adults can and should admire. These big topics feel especially more prevalent in this second book, and I appreciate that they fit within the story almost seamlessly while still managing to be impactful -- and, thankfully, not preachy, which is too often a major pitfall that less skilled writers fall into.


Hunting Prince Dracula is, to put it bluntly, a vibe. A creepy and horrific yet charming, hilarious, and empowering vibe, if that's possible, but a vibe nonetheless. Once again, upon finishing the book, I found myself more than eager to jump into the next one to see what new horrors Audrey Rose and Thomas would explore next, though I was a bit sad to leave the darkly enchanting world of Dracula. But, based on the first two books in this series, I am confident that book three will leave me feeling just as captivated, if not more so.


 

Content Warnings: death, violent death, murder, gore


 

Synopsis:


Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper's true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe's best schools of forensic medicine . . . and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.


But her life's dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school's forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.


In this New York Times bestselling sequel to Kerri Maniscalco's haunting #1 debut Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer . . . or has the depraved prince been brought back to life?

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