Review: Department 19: Darkest Night by Will Hill

The epic conclusion in the blood-poundingly brilliant Department 19 series, from bestselling author, Will Hill.

The brave men and women of Department 19 have fought Dracula at every turn, but now Zero Hour has passed and the ancient vampire is at full strength.

Inside Department 19, the Operators are exhausted and fractured. Jamie, Larissa, Matt and Kate are each struggling with their own demons. When the friends need each other most, they are further apart than ever.

Outside the Department, the world reels from the revelation that vampires are real. Violence and paranoia spread around the globe and, when it finally comes, Dracula’s opening move is more vicious than anyone could have imagined.

A final battle looms between the forces of darkness and the last, massed ranks of those who stand against it. A battle that will define the future of humanity. A battle that simply cannot be lost…

Back in 2005 a certain US author released a book that transformed the merciless, blood thirsty vampires that I had grown up watching on TV, DVD, etc. (Hammer's Christopher Lee Dracula movies, Fright Night, 'Salem's Lot, Blade, Buffy) into pouting, lovesick 'teens', almost like a Mills & Boon with vampires. And of course, due to its success, many other writers followed suit. As far as I was concerned, vampire fiction was dead in the water as far as Young Adults were concerned. And then, towards the end of 2010 I was incredibly fortunate to read a copy of a book by debut YA author Will Hill, and from that moment I was absolutely, completely hooked on a book (and subsequently a series) in a way that hadn't happened since the Harry Potter series ended. 

That book was, of course, Department 19, and with it Will Hill had well and truly reclaimed the vampire from the mushy bollocks of the sparkly brigade and made them scary again. And vicious. And blood thirsty. And ruthless. And just plain bloody brilliant. 

Yesterday saw the release of Darkest Night, the fifth and final book in a series that in my opinion has just got better and better with every book released. With that first instalment, Hill set the bar pretty damn high for YA action and for YA horror, and ever since he has raised that bar higher and higher, leading to me naming him the Sergey Bubka of YA fiction, when I wrote my review of Zero Hour. With Darkest Night Hill tears up all the records and leaves the competition standing. 

I've lost count of the number of times I have heard bloggers and reviewers moaning about dreadfully poor 'third books in trilogies', or series that have gone on one or two books too long. That can never be said about the Department 19 series, and Darkest Night is the most fitting and perfect end to that series that I have love so much. Hill continues to shock his readers, and let's face it, after the last few books we pretty much know that no one is safe, and there is no guarantee that any of our favourite characters will make it through to the final page. Jamie, Larissa, Frankenstein, Matt, Kate... will they all be alive and well come the final page or...?

Darkest Night is also far much more than the final battle between the members of Department 19 (and their various international compatriots) and Dracula and his legions of the undead. In fact, if you're expecting 700+ pages of the battle to end all battles then you've obviously not been paying attention in the last few books. Will Hill weaves all kinds of themes into his D19 story: loyalty, trust, betrayal, love, loss, survival and humanity, and it is the latter of these that jumps into the front seat in Darkest Night. With Jamie now a vampire, will he manage to retain his humanity following the climatic battle at the end of Zero Hour? What lengths will the leaders of D19 and the other international organisations go to in order to defeat Dracula? And just how low will humankind stoop in the name of war? 

With these themes central to the first half of the book Hill adds so much realism to what is essentially a fantasy horror tale (or is it?). We all know the atrocities that man is capable of committing in the name of war: Syria; Kosovo; Iraq; Northern Ireland... the list goes on and on, and it isn't always the perceived main villain(s) committing these diabolical acts. Sometimes it is the supposed good guy, always claiming that they may be doing the wrong thing, but it is for the right reasons. It is exactly this that Hill weaves as significant strand through the first half of Darkest Night. He isn't content with merely entertaining or scaring his readers - he really wants to make them feel uncomfortable, and have them asking what they would do in a similar situation.

And then, of course, comes the final battle. I urge you not to start reading past halfway unless you devote another few hours to the book there and then, as you really will.not.want.to.put.it.down! As battle scenes go it is up there with Helm's Deep, the Attack on New York, the Battle of Rourke's Drift, and the The Bride vs the Crazy 88s in Kill Bill vol 1. It is bloody, brutal and completely unforgiving (for the characters and the reader), and when the dust finally settles the world will never be the same again.

Thank you Will Hill for creating this series and its world and characters. I have never looked forward to and simultaneously dreaded reading a book so much since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and you have not disappointed. I look forward to reading whatever journey you decide to take us on next.

Review: Department 19: Zero Hour by Will Hill

Department 19 still stands against the darkness. But for how much longer? Book four in the explosive series from bestselling author, Will Hill.

As Dracula continues his rise, the men and women of Department 19 wait for good news. But hope is in short supply – the country is beginning to fall apart as the public comes to terms with the horror in their midst; a cure for vampirism remains years, even decades away; and their supposed ally Valentin Rusmanov has not been heard from in weeks.

Jamie Carpenter and his friends are working hard to keep the forces of evil at bay, but it is beginning to feel like a lost cause…Until familiar faces from the past bring news that could turn the tide. News that takes Matt Browning to America on a desperate search for a miracle, and sends Jamie and Larissa Kinley into the darkest corners of eastern Europe, where something old and impossibly powerful waits for them.

Something that could stop Dracula for good.

But the clock is ticking.

Night is falling. And Zero Hour is almost here…

When I read the first Department 19 book, I stated that it was the best action horror that I had ever read. And then Will Hill raised the goddamn bar with his second book, The Rising. Then, like the great Sergey Bubka, he teased us by raising that bar even more for Battle Lines, and as spectators we were left wondering whether Will Hill had it in him to continue doing so. All we could do was watch and wait. And now Zero Hour is upon us, and yes, that bar has gone up again and Hill has sailed over it.

Personally, I never doubted him for a moment (honest). Having spoken to Will about Zero Hour I know how much of himself he has put into this book, and that parts of it very nearly broke him. So much so that back on 15th January, Will wrote a post on his blog to apologise that Zero Hour would not be released at the end of March, but that fans would have to wait for another two months before they could get their hands on a copy. I'll admit, that a very small, selfish part of me was a little bit disappointed that I would have to wait, but the rest of me soon quietened that whining voice. After all, if the book was delayed so that Will could release a final version that he was happy with, then surely that could only be a good thing for the rest of us! 

Before I continue, a word of warning. This is the fourth book in the series and as such this review will contain spoilers for previous books, so if you haven't read them then please do not read on. Secondly, I'm not sure how much I will be saying in this review anyway - with every new book that comes along in this series it feels more and more wrong to mention plot points in a review. Seriously - if you want to know what happens then just read the book.

As a quick reminder, the end of Battle Lines left us with 46 days till Zero Hour. Things had not gone well for Jamie and his team (understatement). Jamie's friends had also gone through hell, whether physically or emotionally, both in the UK and, for Larissa, over in the US. And then there is the matter of Julian Carpenter - alive and well, and back on British soil, but as a high security prisoner whose identity is known only to one or two people.

Zero Hour picks up the story with seven days till Zero Hour, and things are beginning to look very desperate indeed for the members of Department 19. The breakthrough they have been hoping and praying for just hasn't materialised. Kate and the Intelligence Division have data that predicts nothing but disaster of apocalyptic proportions for the world's non-vampire population. Larissa is wracked with guilt as she strongly suspects that Julian Carpenter is alive, but she can't find a way of telling Jamie. Jamie himself is still reeling from the events of Battle Lines, and also struggling with the growing realisation that his girlfriend is one of the most powerful vampires in the world, so where does that leave him, a mere mortal human? Matt Browning has been working night and day, desperately trying to find a cure for vampirism, but so far his efforts have all been in vain. And then there is Valentin Rusmanov, now allied with Department 19, but long absent, off on his own search for an answer to their prayers. 

So, all things considered, things aren't looking good for the human race.

And then things get worse. 

On finishing Zero Hour I sent Will Hill a message, congratulating him on what I thought to be his best book yet, and I told him it was his Empire Strikes Back. There are two reasons for this: the first is that the first two three quarters of the book are a gradual build up to the climactic final quarter (more about that in a minute). The second was the feeling you get, as you turn the pages, that things just can't get any worse. And yet then they do. And again, you think, oh well, at least things can't get any worse. And then they do, again. And this continues again and again as the plot progresses, and all of the time you know that every crappy little thing that is thrown at the D19 team is only a precursor to everything hitting the fan when Dracula finally reaches full strength. There were times when I felt slightly sick with nerves reading this as I have become so invested in these characters over the past few years. Especially given what happened to Shaun Turner in The Rising: we already know that Will Hill has the balls to kill off key characters.

So how could things possibly get worse for the D19 team? Well, I've thought long and hard about what I should or shouldn't reveal, and I decided that I would expand on one key plot point only. Simply put, word gets out. We sort of guessed this would happen following the events of Battle Lines, but now we are talking worldwide media coverage, social media and YouTube, and all the grief that that brings with it: protests (by both vampires and humans); condemnation of the work of D19 by the press; accusations of ethnic cleansing. Not exactly what the team needs to keep them focused as they prepare to do battle with their greatest foe and the biggest ever threat to mankind. However, as far as things getting worse for the team, this is only one of them, and in some ways fairly minor considering some of the other big reveals that come in this book.

Just now I said I would mention more about the climactic final quarter of the book. However, before we reach that point I want to touch on three moments in the first three quarters that pretty much took my breath away. The first was a major fist-pump moment which happens just as the clock has ticked over to two days until Zero Hour. I'm not saying any more other than it sort of relates to my favourite character in the series and it's nice to see justice done. I reckon Will Hill took great delight in writing this particular scene. The other two key moments happened within twenty pages of each other and I actually uttered a word that I can't and won't repeat here when I read it and I felt as if I had been punched in the gut. And if that wasn't enough, twenty pages later I was left with more than a few tears in my eyes as Hill tore out my heart and crushed it. Will Hill has balls of steel and does not hold back in this book!

And then there is the climactic final portion. Seriously, if you have any energy left when you get to the chapter titled "The Calm Before" I suggest you put the book down, go outside and get a breath of fresh air. Perhaps treat yourself to a bar of chocolate and a can of red Coke (or whatever your beverage of choice happens to be) because hell, you are going to need it! The final part of this book is fast, furious, bloody, violent, and definitely takes no prisoners. It's a no-holds-barred climax that comes with one rule only: kill or be killed, and should come with a theme park style warning:

You also need to make sure that you have plenty of time to finish the book, as once you start reading this chapter you will find it impossible to put the book down until you have reached the final chapter, more than 100 pages later.

With the fifth and final book titled Darkest Night I have a feeling that things are probably going to get even worse before this series comes to an end.

Department 19: Zero Hour is published as a hardback in the UK on 5th June. However, you can already buy the first three quarters of the book as e-books, with the fourth quarter scheduled to be released on the same day as the physical edition. Head on over to Will Hill's blog to find out more details. Whilst you're at it I also strongly recommend that you download a free copy of the (long) short story, The Second Birth of Frankenstein. If you're a fan of the D19 character like I am then you will probably have a number of questions about his past, how he came to choose the name of a creator that he grew to hate, and how he ended up with D19. It's bloody brilliant and you can find out all you need to know about how to get your free copy by clicking here. 

News: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda available free for limited time

Yesterday I received an email from Kat at Simon and Schuster saying that the brilliant The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda is available free from Apple's iBook store for a limited period (until the 20th August). I loved this book and it's new take on the vampire story (you can read my review here) and thought I would bring you attention to this great offer. You can get the book from here:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/the-hunt/id449565431?mt=11

I generally read books on my Kindle so I rarely visit the iBook store, but having just been on there to download The Hunt I can say it is well worth you visiting as there are a number of great children's books available for free on there.

The Hunt:

Against all odds, 17-year-old Gene has survived in a world where humans have been eaten to near extinction by the general population. The only remaining humans, or hepers as they are known, are housed in domes on the savannah and studied at the nearby Heper Institute. Every decade there is a government sponsored hunt. When Gene is selected to be one of the combatants he must learn the art of the hunt but also elude his fellow competitors whose suspicions about his true nature are growing.

Review: Department 19: Battle Lines by Will Hill

Secret government unit Department 19 is recovering from evil vampire Valeri Rusmanov's deadly attack on their base. The Department’s newest member, teenage operator Jamie Carpenter, is tasked with training up a new squad, as his friends and colleagues desperately search for ways to try to stop what is coming.

The timing couldn't be worse for a coordinated, global attack on a number of maximum security prisons and hospitals—with the already-dangerous inmates now on the loose and turned into vampires. One of the escapees has a deep connection to one of the darkest moments in the history of Department 19 and embarks on a quest that threatens to expose the existence of vampires to the public. And with each day that passes, the regenerated Dracula gets stronger, bringing Zero Hour closer.

In this third instalment of the epic Department 19 series, Will Hill delivers higher—and sharper—stakes than ever before.

If you're a long time reader of The Book Zone then you will know just how big a fan I am of Will Hill's Department 19 books. The first book was my Book of the Year back in 2011, and the sequel, The Rising, would most likely have been the winner in 2012, if I hadn't been a little flexible with the rules (seriously, it's no fun when the same person wins year after year - just ask Christiano Ronaldo). If I now say that the third book in the series, Battle Lines, is my favourite to date then you may feel you don't need to read any further as you will know that it must be a damn fine book indeed. 

If you have not yet read the first two books in the series then shame on you. However, you may not want to read on as although there will not be any spoilers for Battle Lines in this review, I really cannot promise the same for The Rising, so please navigate away now. 

Battle Lines opens with the members of Department 19 still recovering from the catastrophic, bloody vampire attack on The Loop that took place at the end of The Rising. Cal Holmwood has assumed the position of Interim Director following the abduction of Henry Seward by Valeri Rusmanov, and one of his first commands was to disband G-17, Jamie Carpenter's Operational Squad that also included Larissa Kinley and Kate Randall. His reasons, although difficult for Jamie to fully accept, make perfect tactical and operational sense: by splitting the trio up their experience can be used to greater effect. Thus, Jamie is put in charge of a new squad of trainee Operatives, Kate has been transferred to the Internal Security Assessment Team (ISAT) to work with Paul Turner in rooting out any traitor that might still be hiding amongst their ranks, and Larissa is on secondment with NS9, Department 19's sister organisation in the US. Meanwhile, their other friend, Matt Browning, is working all hours in the depths of The Loop on Project Lazarus, the department's quest to find a cure to the vampire plague.

However, before all this is revealed we are treated to an vicious opening chapter that grabs you by the throat and tears out your carotid artery. It is an opening chapter that I found all the more chilling because of where I live. It starts with a siren waking up the residents of the village of Crowthorne. For people who live in the Crowthorne area, which includes Bracknell where I live, the sound of the siren is something residents do not want to hear outside of its weekly Monday morning 10 am test. It is a siren that I can hear if I am outside at this time whilst at school almost ten miles away. It is the siren that signals an escape from Broadmoor, the high-security psychiatric hospital that through the years has housed the likes of Ian Brady, Peter Sutcliffe, Ronald Kray and Charles Bronson. However, in Will Hill's world the inmates aren't just escaping - they have been given a helping hand by Valeri's minions that has given them powers that have previously only been seen in the oldest of vampires.

I'm now conscious that I have written two lengthy paragraphs and not got beyond the first couple of chapters, and there is so much that happens in this book. As a result of Jamie's original team being split up, the action moves from England to the US, and back again in rapid fire, with every one of the main characters being given the wordage to grow as characters in their own right. Jamie has to deal with taking inexperienced Operatives into the field against merciless foes, Kate has to cope with being seen as some kind of pariah as she carries out her internal affairs duties in interrogating her fellow D19 members, and Larissa has to cope with being thousands of miles away from Jamie, whilst having the time of her life in a set-up that offers her more freedom and less prejudice, but also having to fend off the advances of one of hew new friends. We are also occasionally treated to an insight into the machinations of Dracula and Valeri as they inflict horrible tortures on their captive, Seward.

I'm not going to prattle on for much longer, although there were two scenes I want to mention, however obliquely, that had me grinning from ear to ear. The first involves Larissa, when she and her team are tasked with an operation that brings them into contact with a Mexican drug cartel. If you have read the D19 books you will know what Larissa is capable of - imagine her let loose in such a situation and I imagine your grin of anticipation will match my own. The second scene I'd like to mention appears on page 570. I was reading it during one of the Y7 reading lessons I take at school, and I literally made my group jump as I shouted "Yes!" out loud, and only just managed to hold back from pumping the air with my fist!

Battle Lines hit me on an emotional and psychological level more than its predecessors, and is all the better for it. One scene in particular, when Larissa is in a Vegas night club, is thought provoking for both her and the reader, and later conversations suggest that what on the surface seems like little more than a brief encounter of little consequence may prove to have significant ramifications for Department 19 in the future. Readers also have to cope with the heartache that Matt and Kate's fathers continue to face, believing that their children are dead, and the steps they decide to take that could bring down the whole Department. 

On top of all this, Dracula is still very much on the fringe of the main story (exciting times ahead!) and I haven't even mentioned Jamie's dad or a rather bitter, and now extremely violent and revenge hungry, character from the Department's past. Prepare to be blown away!

Is there no limit to Will Hill's talent as a writer? He continues to up the ante with every new release (as well as upping the litres of blood that flow throughout), and every book so far as beet better than the one that preceded it. With two more books due in the Department 19 series I fully expect him to be wowing his established fans for another two years, whilst also attracting legions more into the fold.

Battle Lines is scheduled to be published on 28 March, and my thanks go to the lovely people at HarperCollins for giving me the chance to read it some time before release date through Netgalley.

Review: The Department 19 Files by Will Hill

Back on the 28th February I happened to happened to see Will Hill tweet that the first in his Department 19 Files short stories was available to buy in the kindle store. I am a huge Department 19 fan, and have loved all of the novels to date (including Battle Lines, which I was fortunate to receive as review copy. It is even better than the previous two novels). Needless to say, I have been looking forward to reading the new short stories ever since I first heard they were going to be published, and within seconds of Will tweeting it I had downloaded The Devil In No Man's Land: 1917. 

And I loved it. If you are as much of a D19 geek as I am then this is an essential purchase. Set in 1917, it focuses on the exploits of Quincey Harker during the Great War. Readers of the books will know that Quincey Harker was a prominent figure in the early years of Department 19's existence, but we know very little about his rise to 'fame' within the Department. In this short story, the author starts to fill in some of the back story, we discover that he was the leader of an elite group soldiers (what today we would call special forces) and more importantly, how Harker came to 'meet' his first vampire.

Needless to say, one week later I took my Kindle to school with me as I had preordered the second story in this mini-series, titled Undead in the Eternal City: 1918. This time Harker and his elite group of fighters are enjoying a little R&R in Rome following the end of the Great War. However, they are not alone in visiting the Eternal City: another 'person' familiar to D19 fans is also at large - none other than Valeri Rusmanov. This story is very different from the previous one which focused on the horrors of the Great War, and the terror experienced by Harker and his team as they encounter their first vampire. This time the group react in the way they were trained to when faced with a foe, and what ensues is a full throttle chase though the sreets of Rome. It also may go some way to explaining Valeri's extreme hatred for all things Department 19. I'm now waiting impatiently for Wednesday to come along again so I can read the third in the series, The New Blood: 1919.

A word of warning - these are  short stories so don't expect anything lengthy. Also do not expect any big revelations that impact on the novels - these are just brief, but very satisfying, looks at a character from D19's past. What you will get though are well-written, bloody anecdotes from the D19 annals that may answer questions you may have about the early days of Department 19. 

It is well worth popping over to Will Hill's blog at http://www.willhillauthor.com/2013/02/the-department-19-files/  to read a little more about the background behind his writing of these stories. There is one more short story to come this month, and I would imagine that if these are successful then the author may produce even more in the future.

Review: The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

Against all odds, 17-year-old Gene has survived in a world where humans have been eaten to near extinction by the general population. The only remaining humans, or hepers as they are known, are housed in domes on the savannah and studied at the nearby Heper Institute. Every decade there is a government sponsored hunt. When Gene is selected to be one of the combatants he must learn the art of the hunt but also elude his fellow competitors whose suspicions about his true nature are growing.

Some time ago I received the monthly blogger's email from the nice people at Simon and Schuster and The Hunt jumped out at me because of the above blurb. Normally I wouldn't get so excited about a vampire book (Department 19 being the obvious exception) as I feel that YA writers have sucked (pun intended) all of the gruesome fun out of the genre, turning what should be vicious, bloodthirsty monsters into insipid, pretty-boys, who are only one step away from being in a Mills & Boon novel. However, from its blurb The Hunt struck me as being similar in theme to Richard Matheson's I Am Legend, or the film Daybreakers, and I crossed my fingers in the hope that there would be blood, and lots of it.

When the booked arrived I couldn't help but feel dismay. Just look at the cover. That overly attractive male model screams pretty-boy, and so the book sat on my shelf for some time as other, more boy-friendly-looking books were promoted over it. However, last week I finally decided I was in the mood to give it a try, and even now, writing this review, I am still struggling to contain the maniacal laughter that has wanted to burst from deep within me ever since. What's was so funny? I hear you ask. Simple - the thought of all those girly teenage Twilight fans picking this book up, thinking they are going to be treated to a vampire-themed romance and instead being subjected to a brutal gore-fest that will have them waking screaming in the night. (OK, the responsible teacher part of me will also make sure my school librarian knows to mention this to any young girls who decide to give The Hunt a try).

After a great, attention grabbing opening chapter, the first part of the book moves at a fairly slow pace. At first I wasn't sure about this, but the further I got through this part of the book, the more I felt the discomfort grow and grow. The story is told in the first person by Gene (although we don't know his name for quite a lot of the book), a teen boy who is possibly the last remaining human in a world where vampires have taken over (although they are never referred to as vampires - in this world they are the norm, they are just people). This first handful of chapters introduce us to the difficult life that Gene has to lead just to survive. Before being bitten and running off into the night to destroy himself, Gene's father drilled into him a set of survival rules which Gene must follow to the letter if he is to avoid being torn apart by his peers. You see Gene does not hide out in a remote mountain hut, he lives in a suburban house, and attends school daily nightly. Every night he sits in lessons with other teenagers who would literally tear him apart if they realised he was human (or heper). He avoids detection by going through his daily pre-school ritual, which includes polishing his fake fangs, shaving hair from his face, legs, arms, etc, masking his body odour and so on. What Andrew Fukuda did in these opening chapters was instil in me a sense of very uncomfortable dread - surely there was no way that Gene was going to survive indefinitely? Surely it would only be a matter of time before the blood splatter hit the fan? As such I was on tenterhooks, page after page, fearing the worst.

It was fortunate that the story gripped me like this as otherwise I may have given up on it early on, as a little voice in the back of my head kept on whispering that it might be just a Hunger Games rip-off. The premise is similar - every ten years a group of people (aka vampires) are selected at random to take part in the Heper Hunt, an event designed purely to keep the Ruler in good favour with his people. The winner is the person who can kill the most hepers. However, my fears were soon allayed (forget Hunger Games - thankfully it is much closer in theme to I Am Legend) when Gene was taken to the Heper Institute and the process of initiation began. 

The period of initiation takes up the majority of the rest of the book, with Gene surrounded by heper-hungry vamps, but without his survival kit of razor, deodorising paste, or even that most essential of items for humans - water. Thus he spends almost every minute of every night fearing that at any moment one of his fellow hunters may see through his act. As I said before, these vampires are violent. Actually, violent doesn't even come close - unlike many vampires they have an animalistic urge to tear hepers apart, and their bodies react to even the slightest whiff of heper. Cue lots of drool, flying saliva, gnashing teeth, and so on.

I don't want to say much more about the story as I could very easily give away some of the key plot twists. Suffice to say I think Andrew Fukuda has managed to breathe life into the slightly worn out vampire mythos, with his tight plotting and skill at building suspense for his reader. I have to say though that I was disappointed that we aren't told more about this dystopian society, and especially how it came into being. Quite often I found myself with a question about the world or its inhabitants that I hoped would be answered, only to be disappointed. There were also several other elements slipped in here and there that had me wondering where the author was going, again only to find that the reveal was not to be. The book does end on something of a cliffhanger, so I am hoping that my questions will all be answered in the sequel, a book I am already impatient to read.

Review: Department 19: The Rising by Will Hill

91 DAYS TILL ZERO HOUR.

THAT'S 91 DAYS TO RUN.

91 DAYS TO HIDE.

OR 91 DAYS TO PRAY FOR DEPARTMENT 19 TO SAVE YOU…

After the terrifying attack on Lindisfarne at the end of the first book, Jamie, Larissa and Kate are recovering at Department 19 headquarters, waiting for news of Dracula’s stolen ashes.

They won’t be waiting for long.

Vampire forces are gathering. Old enemies are getting too close. And Dracula… is rising.

If there was one 2012 release that I was looking forward to reading more than any other this year it was Will Hill’s Department 19: The Rising. I do not think I have stopped shouting about how wonderful I thought the first book was – I have bought multiple copies over the past year for various godsons, relatives, etc and I have recommended it to all of my friends and work colleagues who have teenage sons. It goes without saying that it was also my Book Zone Book of the Year 2011. Imagine my excitement when I discovered that an early proof copy was heading my way just before Christmas – it would make the perfect in-flight reading material for my journey to Canada. Imagine also my utter despair when it had not arrived in time – everyone else seemed to have received theirs, but Bracknell must be in some kind of different time zone as far as post is concerned as this was yet another slow arriving parcel. However, my tweeted despair quickly turned to elation when the wonderful, generous, thoughtful Will Hill emailed me a pdf of The Rising so that I could read it on my Kindle. I joyfully proclaimed that I would read it in a single sitting during my many houred flight, and Will replied that he would be very surprised if I did, as it was 700+ pages long. Was that a gauntlet I heard being thrown down?

Come the following morning the plane took off, and as soon as I was allowed the Kindle was turned on. The next nine hours flew by, the inflight entertainment system (and my long suffering wife) completely ignored/forgotten about, as I was drawn back into the author’s world where nasty, blood gulping vampires exist, as does a government agency, the eponymous Department 19, established decades ago to counter the threat of these unread. And I ‘won’ the challenge – I clicked over onto the final page just five minutes before the light came on to tell us to turn off all electrical gadgets in preparation for the plane’s descent, at the end of what was possibly one of the most enjoyable flights I have ever made. If you thought Department 19 was amazing then fasten your seatbelts tight as the sequel is one truly fantastic ride. Will Hill has taken everything that was so great about the first book, and turned them up to 11!

Now first the bad news – I really cannot tell you very much about the plot except for the very basics. At the end of the first book we were left with a number of questions (and one massively huge jaw-dropping epilogue), and many of these questions are answered in one way or another in The Rising. There are also a number of key developments/revelations that, should I spoil them in any way in this review, HarperCollins and Will Hill might just string me up by my unmentionables and leave me to rot. One or two of these really key developments I had guessed before they were revealed (honest guv!), and one in particular had been niggling away at me ever since I read the first book. This is not to say that they are obvious though, Will Hill keeps his readers guessing all the w ay through this one.

If you haven’t read the first book then you might want to turn away now as I am about to mention THAT epilogue (in fact, if you haven’t read it then leave this review now, and go and buy it or get it from your local library this very minute). As I was saying, THAT epilogue. The Dracula thing that had all those jaws thudding across the land. Yes, in The Rising Dracula has returned, but before you get your hopes up, this story is less about Dracula and more about loads of other things, and it is all the better for this. It is about how Jamie is struggling to cope with the loss of his close friend Frankenstein and his mother being turned into a vampire. It is about Jamie and his growing relationship with fellow Department 19 operative (and vampire) Larissa. It is about Larissa, hating her fangs and vampire abilities and desperate to be seen as a normal person. It is about Kate Randall, the girl they rescued from Lindisfarne. It is about Matt Browning, now recovered physically from the severe injuries he suffered in the first book, but mentally feeling that there is a huge hole in his life. It is about the history behind Dracula becoming a vampire, and the subsequent turning of his faithful followers Valeri, Valentin and the since destroyed Alexandru, and how not even vampire brothers necessarily share the same goals.

Despite it having more action, more gore, and more horror than its predecessor, The Rising is very much about the characters, good and bad, and in my mind this makes it even better than the first book. I became so immersed in their various stories that my emotions during that flight were all over the place. At times my heart was racing, desperate to get to the outcome of an action scene, and then several chapters later I would feel tears almost pricking at my eyes. I went from excited to saddened to fearful to elated and then back again, running the whole gamut over and over again. There was one scene in particular, at the beginning of which I was genuinely afraid for the characters involved, and come the end of that climactic scene I challenge anyone not to be genuinely upset. Will Hill – you are a genius!

This book is a rare thing indeed - a sequel that is better than its brilliant predecessor. It almost wants me to go back to my reviews on Amazon and GoodReads and drop them down to four stars. But Department 19 was my favourite book of 2011 so I can't justify that, so I will just have to imagine there being a sixth star. There is so much more I want to say about it but can’t (I value my unmentionables to much). Yet again I already have a frontrunner for my book of the year – author’s please note, Will Hill has set the bar and in 2012 it may take an effort of Olympian proportions to beat it.

Review: Blood Ninja 2: Lord Oda's Revenge by Nick Lake

Taro was just a fisherman's son...but then his father was murdered and he was forced to become a Blood Ninja, fated to live by night, doomed to live on the blood of others. But he has had his revenge. He has killed Lord Oda, the warlord who had his father assassinated. But Lord Oda is not quiet in his grave. He has found a way to reach beyond death and Taro and his friends soon find themselves facing samurai armies, a deadly enemy from the past and strange ghostly creatures who suck life from the living. Dangerously weakened, Taro, must recover the one object that Lord Oda was desperate to find before he died: the Buddha Ball, the source of limitless power. But if Taro is to complete his perilous quest - to save himself, his friends, his mother, and the girl he loves - he must go to hell and back and face his arch enemy once again. For Lord Oda has returned - as a Blood Ninja.

Blood Ninja by Nick Lake was one of my favourite reads of 2010. For me, everything was right about it. For a start, how could I not like a book where ninjas were vampires, this fact immediately explaining the secret behind their legendary powers. Add to this a story rich with historical detail, fantastic action set pieces, great characters and the occasional gory death and I felt that Nick Lake had delivered the perfect package for boys and girls who are confident readers and want something a little more challenging in their reading diet. And let's not forget that amazing book cover by Hydro74.

Eighteen months on and I am now ready here with my review of the sequel, subtitled Lord Oda's Revenge. In my mind there was a lot riding on this book - would Nick Lake be able to sustain the magic over a second volume? The answer, happily, is a resounding yes. Lord Oda's Revenge has everything its predecessor had, and more and I am slightly surprised that neither of the two books have appeared on the major children's book prize lists so far. Perhaps, like Rick Yancey's brilliant Monstrumologist books, it is just too good for the intended audience who have possibly been dumbed down by the flood of average YA titles teenagers have had to endure over the past few years?

The book picks up the story not long after the close of Blood Ninja. Taro is pining for news about his mother, whilst also being confused about where is relationship with Hana is heading. After all, although he is the lost son of Lord Tokugawa, in his mind he is really the son of a lowly fisherman and his wife, and subsequently lacks the social skills and awareness of etiquette expected of a high born Lord. Together with Hana, and his best friend Hiro, Taro sets off on a quest to find his mother and retrieve the Buddha Ball, even if he has to go to hell and back. Standing in his way is evil personified, the vile Lord Oda, as well as Yukiko, who is hell-bent on a little revenge.

The stand out element of this book for me is the character development. The middle book in a trilogy is always going to feel as if something is lacking, as the story has already been established, and no reader is going to expect a completely satisfying ending that ties off all the loose ends. Nick Lake does what George Lucas did with The Empire Strikes Back, and that is direct the reader's attention to the characters, to make up for this ultimate lack of reward come the final page. I challenge anyone who reads this book not to develop feelings for the main characters - Nick Lake really made me care about them as they faced trial after trial.

In my review of the first book I likened it more to an adventure story than a horror. I am pleased to report that the blood splatter had increased slightly in this sequel, although never to a point where it overshadows the storyline. I would not be surprised if some enterprising artist over in Japan picked this story up to turn it into a manga series. It is not an area on which I am an expert, but the few manga books I have read suggest that this story would fit perfectly within their ranks.

For some reason these books have been released earlier in the US than over here in the UK, and I wonder whether Nick Lake secured a publishing deal over there first. It isn't something that bothers me as we got the best book covers by far - just go onto Amazon US and compare, I am sure you will agree with me. However, according to that very same internet store the third book in the series is not scheduled to be out in the US until August 2012, and considering we didn't get the UK edition of Lord Oda's Revenge until a good eight months after it was published in the State we are in for a pretty long wait to find out what happens next.

Blood Ninja 2: Lord Oda's Revenge was published in the UK at the beginning of August, complete with another stunning Hydro74 cover design. My thanks go to the good people at Corvus for sending me a copy to review.

Review: Palace of the Damned by Darren Shan (The Saga of Larten Crepsley Book Three)

In the third instalment in the creepy, captivating Larten Crepsley series, Larten finds out what it means to love… but is he also damned to find out what it means to lose?

Lost in the arctic waste, carrying a baby whose love he could never deserve, Larten faces the darkest time he has ever known.

But hope has a way of shining through even the smallest of cracks, and just as Larten reaches the end, a new beginning presents itself. The trouble is, for Larten, the violence of his youth is never far from the surface… and those he loves are the ones he hurts the most. As Larten experiences heaven and hell, and tries to save the soul of a child, the question is: can he save his own?

Has Darren Shan sold his soul to the devil? That's a question I have asked myself after finishing all three of the books I have read so far in The Saga of Larten Crepsley. Why? Because the man has not failed to deliver even once, so surely there must be more than natural talent at play here?

I will try to make this review as spoiler-free as possible as far as Palace of the Damned is concerned, but if you have not yet read Ocean of Blood yet then you may want to navigate away from this page now by clicking here now. OK... for those of you still reading, Palace of the Damned picks up pretty much straight after the dramatic and bloody conclusion to the second book in the series. Larten is full of self-loathing following his actions on the Pearly Tornado, and he is now heading into the frozen Arctic wasteland where he intends to put himself out of his misery for good. Things are slightly complicated by the fact that he is still carrying the baby he 'rescued' from the ship, and with no sign of any form of civilization it looks as if this young child may die with him. However, after what seems like days he finds himself led to the legendary Palace of the book's title where something happens that changes everything. And there is no way that I am going to tell you what that is, although we do witness the naming of the baby.

Following the release of Ocean of Blood, and Larten's taking of the baby, there was some excitement among many fans as they speculated as to who the baby was, with most of them getting it spot on, and as this happens in the first few chapters of the book I don't think it is too much of a spoiler to say that it is Gavner Purl (but I'm not taking any chances.... highlight that space if you're not bothered about finding out the identity of the child). Yet again, Darren Shan treats his readers to another key morsel in the history of Larten Crepsley and this character goes on to play an important role in the rest of this book.

As in the previous two books in this series Palace of the Damned is split into several parts, with sometimes lengthy jumps in time between each one. So, after the first three chapters we leap forward from the Arctic wasteland to Paris, 1906, and herein lies my only criticism of this this book - I wanted it to be much longer. It is only 256 pages in length and I reckon there is easily another 50 plus pages of story that could be told to fill in some of the jumps in time (how did Larten and the child get to Paris for starters?). Maybe I am being just a little too picky as not all of the jumps in time are quite so huge though; in fact, the jump from Paris to Larten's next destination happens at just the right time in the story, and to fill in that journey with more detail would not have added to the story. I guess I am just greedy for more history of this great character.

I loved Ocean of Blood because of its focus on Larten's formative 'teenage' years, when he was initially full of reckless abandon, and then later seeing the influence various others had on his development towards 'adult' vampirehood. In this book we see yet another change in Larten as his life journey continues: he is still full of regret at his massacre of the people on the Pearly Tornado, but in Paris he faces another challenge as he falls in love with a human. Of course, Larten being Larten he omits to inform her that he is a vampire and therefore it was only going to be a matter of time before..... (I told you it would be spoiler free). However, his relationships with Alicia (for that is her name) and the child he rescued that she adopts as her own, are of paramount importance to the rest of his story in this instalment, right up until the final page where we are left hanging with those dreaded words To be continued..... If you are weak like me you will then go on to read the sample opening chapter of book four, to be titled Brothers To The Death. I kind of wish I hadn't done this, and I wish HarperCollins hadn't included it at the end of the book, as on reflection I qould have liked to be kept in suspense for the next six months or so. However, it wasn't all bad as this sample chapter does itself end on a cracking 'ooohhh-can't-wait-to-read-the-next-book' moment.

All in all Palace of the Damned is yet another superb addition to the saga from Darren Shan and I loved the way he has developed his character even more and we are now really beginning to see the Larten we first met in Cirque du Freak, although I am saddened a little by the fact that there is only one more book left in the series. I wonder what Darren has planned for his legion of fans once he has finished telling Larten's story? Palace of the Damned was released in the UK yesterday and my thanks go to the good people at HarperCollins for sending me a copy to review. Tonight I am off to see Darren Shan with Charlie Higson at the Bath Festival of Children's Literature and I am really looking forward to it. Watch this space for a report on the event.

Guest Post by Pete Johnson (Author of The Vampire Hunters)

You know how there’s one person in your class who is always making jokes and thinks he’s really funny.

Well that was me.

I was the class clown, who’d try and make people laugh, especially when they really shouldn’t. For instance, during assembly when the headmaster is telling everyone off, I’d have my mates helpless with hysterical laughter and terrified the headmaster would notice them. Brilliant!

I’m still trying to make people laugh today with my books like: ‘How to Train Your Parents,’ and ‘Help! I’m a Classroom Gambler.’ I’m known for my horror stories too, like: ‘The Ghost Dog,’ and ‘Eyes of the Alien.’ But a few funny moments even creep into those books.

But I’ve never tried writing a full-scale horror-comedy until now. So I decided to take a vampire story – and yeah, I know there are tons of them around now – but give it a very special twist.

So in my vampire stories ’’The Vampire Blog’ and the newly launched sequel ‘The Vampire Hunters,’ the central character, Marcus, is the most reluctant half-vampire you’ve ever met. In fact, up to the night of his thirteenth birthday he thought he was as normal as you. But then his parents tell him, they’re half-vampires and he’s about to start changing into one too.

At first he thinks his parents have gone mad. Then he’s totally horrified. He doesn’t want to join the ‘We love Blood Gang.’ But soon he finds a white fang dangling inside his mouth. (The sign the changeover has begun) Shortly afterwards he has a blood craving at school and he ends up licking all the blood off his best mate’s hankie. Later he gets poisoned by a pizza, (it contained garlic sausage) and a vampire attacks him.

Oh yes, they exist too. But in real life its animal blood vampires like, not human (far too sour) There’s just one exception – the blood of half-vampires before they change over. This vampire has been tracking Marcus for some time and will certainly attack again. Even worse, it’s someone who he knows. And when he discovers who it is, Marcus gets the shock of his life...

Yet, through all this Marcus keeps making stupid jokes and acting silly, just as I did in all the lessons I really hated. It was my way of getting through the heavy stuff. And its Marcus’s way too.

But in ‘The Vampire Hunters’ the tension – and laughs – really build up. For now Marcus is in phase two of the changeover. This starts with his Dad handing him a bottle of blood. He says. ‘Now we’d like you to take this to school with you. I expect you’re wondering why.’

‘Is it to pour over my chips?’ asks Marcus

But Marcus’s dad doesn’t smile. Tragically, neither of his parents ever laugh at his jokes. Instead they tell him to carry the bottle of blood with him everywhere, as soon Marcus will have the first of two blood fever attacks. And when this happens a deep craving for blood will totally overwhelm him.

Marcus is hating the whole idea. But he can’t tell his parents that, so he just goes on saying silly jokes and, of course, getting his parents more and more annoyed.

Now what I’m going to tell you next may alarm you: there’s probably more of me in ‘The Vampire Hunters’ than anything else I’ve ever written. This isn’t to say, I hastily add, that I’m a secret half-vampire (not that I’d ever admit it, if I were) but some of the scenes have actually happened to me.

So a disastrous date at the cinema which still makes me shudder, is right there in ‘The Vampire Hunters’ – only with a vampire twist, of course. And my worst ever nightmare, that’s in the book too. Just wait until you see what it is …

So will ‘The Vampire Hunters’ scare you, as well as make you laugh? I think – I hope – the comedy strengthens and deepens the book’s horrifying moments.

Also, and most importantly, you have to care about the characters. Otherwise it’s just vampire bats swooping out of the air at people. So, before I even started writing ‘The Vampire Hunters’ I spent days and days thinking about Marcus and Tallulah – the other main character. And after a while – well just as I expect you can imagine your best mate’s voice in your head, and know the kind of things he’ll say – so I could hear Marcus and Tallulah’s voices.

They have a lot of arguments in this book (I love writing about rows) and sometimes they were chattering away so quickly in my head I could hardly keep up with them. And it felt as if I wasn’t writing the story at all. That’s a great moment for a writer.

Another is when you see the first-ever copies of your story. Of course you are mad keen to know what readers think of it. In fact, here’s a little tip if ever you want to gain a writer’s attention instantly – just start chatting to them about their latest book. Then watch their eyes fix on you and see how they listen intently to every word you say.

And that’s what I’m doing right now – eagerly awaiting your verdict on ‘The Vampire Hunters.’

Review: The Vampire Hunters by Pete Johnson

On my thirteenth birthday, my life changed for ever. That’s when I learned the shocking truth: I’m a half-vampire.

Think that sounds cool? Think again! I’ve been attacked by an evil vampire bat, had huge cravings for my best friend’s blood, and nearly died from eating a pizza (half-vampires aren’t great with garlic). Writing my secret blog is the only thing that’s kept me from going completely crazy.

As if life couldn’t get any more complicated, there have been some vicious attacks in the local woods. Vampire-mad Tallulah (definitely not my girlfriend) thinks a super-vampire is behind them – and she’s desperate to prove it, with a mysterious chain that’s supposed to glow red-hot when a vampire is close by.

And I have a horrible feeling that the chain’s going to turn red-hot any day now . . .

Having only the other day had a little moan about the relative (when compared to YA) lack of really fun titles for the 9+ age range I can now tell you about another one that is well worth a look at, albeit one that will be more suited to confident readers of this age, and those in their early teens. And if my To Be Read pile is anything to go by there will be more reviews for books for this age group coming soon. The Vampire Hunters by Pete Johnson is the sequel to The Vampire Blog and it is perfect for reluctant boy (and girl) readers. Like its predecessor it is written in the form of a blog, and as such there a few lengthy blocks of text as the entries are split by the times they were posted. When I was younger we called them diaries, and Adrian Mole reigned supreme. Kids these days don't keep diaries, but blogs are where it's at, and the format works really well in this case. The structure also allows for both rapid page turning to find out what happens next, as well as making it very easy to put down and come back to later - again, perfect for those who only pick up a book when pressured to do so by parent or teacher.

As with many of Pete's other books, the stand out element of his writing is the humour. The voice of main character Marcus is one that the majority of kids will be able to relate to, and the problems he faces as a half-vampire are just a slight twist on those experienced by most kids who feel as if they are different from the majority as they approach and enter their teens. he has girlfriend problems (his first date at the cinema is a disaster, but kids will be laughing out loud at the excuse he finally gives to his best friend's girlfriend); and his parents are very excited about the arrival of his half-vampirism, but all he feels is pressure to please. There is also a thinly disguised online safety element to the plot taht will be welcomed by parents and teachers, who worry that their children are not as safety conscious as they should be, and could be easily tempted into meeting someone they have been chatting to online who they know nothing about.

I have not read The Vampire Blog but this did not affect my enjoyment of this book. I seem to remember reading an interview that Pete did for another website some time ago where he said that The Vampire Blog was the first of a trilogy - I would be more than happy if the series was extended further than three books. My thanks go to the generous people at Random House for sending me a copy to review. Please watch this space for a very special Pete Johnson guest post, coming very soon to The Book Zone.

News: Department 19 by Will Hill

Edit: Review now on The Book Zone - click here

Over the past few weeks there has been quite a buzz on Twitter about a certain book called Department 19 by author Will Hill. The book was unveiled to the big hitters of the book industry (including my friend Liz from My Favourite Books - you can read her fab report here) at a very special event held at the Churchill War Rooms in London. I count myself incredibly lucky to have been sent a proof copy of the book a couple of days later.


Since then I have received many emails (I think the total is now 23) from readers of The Book Zone asking me about this book, and so I thought I had better write this short post. Sadly all I am able to say is that it is brilliant - possibly the best action horror story I have ever read. Department 19 is going to be huge! However, it isn't scheduled for publication until next March and so you are going to have to wait some time for my review, which I will post early in 2011. The best place to go for any further information that may be released is the super cool Spill The Ink website - there is already a handful of posts on there about Department 19. You can also follow Will Hill/Department 19 on Twitter here. In the meantime here is a teaser trailer for you: