13 Days of Halloween: Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

Jimmy Patterson; 448 pages; Amazon

To celebrate Halloween this year, I will be featuring 13 horror themed posts. (Hint: They're mostly books!)

Today, I'm reviewing Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco, which is the sequel to Stalking Jack the Ripper (you can read my review here). 

Picking up shortly after the events of the first novel, Audrey Rose Wadsworth, her friend Mr. Thomas Cresswell, and her chaperone Mrs. Harvey are traveling on an orient express headed to the Academy of Forensic Medicine and Science (Institutului National De Criminalistica Si Mecicina Legala), which happens to be located at the Bran Castle in Romania. She's there to enroll as the first female student in Europe's most famous forensics school. However, things don't go as planned, which is something she is sorta used to by now.

One of the former owners of Bran Castle was Vlad the Impaler, or otherwise known as Prince Dracula, which gives the place a very eerie vibe. 

Audrey Rose and Thomas once again gets tossed into a manhunt when a series of strange murders occur around Bran Castle. Due to the way the victims were killed, people start to believe that Prince Dracula has returned to wreck havoc.

Are vampires real?

That the exact same question Audrey Rose and Thomas want to answer as they search for clues that will lead them to the real killer.

I have had this book sitting on a bookshelf for probably 10 months and I almost picked it up to read it a few times, but I held back just so I can review it during the 13 Days of Halloween! I loved the first book, Stalking Jack the Ripper, so I was looking forward to reading the sequel. While the series is marketed for young adults, I feel like the books are written more for adult readers. 

The characters are very well written with plenty of depth to them; even the side characters are interesting. The dialogue and descriptions are amazing; making the reader feel like there right there beside the characters. There are photos, illustrations, and letters throughout the novel, which gives it a Gothic touch. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading Hunting Prince Dracula. While it's not considered a short read at nearly 450 pages, I flew right the pages. The author has a wonderful way with words, making it very easy for me to get sucked into story. Yes, the first book was a tad bit better, but the sequel is still worth reading! If you haven't read the series before, I recommend checking the books out. 

I'll be reviewing the third book, Escaping From Houdini, tomorrow!