Necroscope

by Brian Lumley (TOR Books)
by Doug

The Vampire is one of those taboo creatures that we all fear, yet crave to be. Anne Rice and her Vampire Lestat is probably the most popular Vampire since ol’ Dracula himself, but let me introduce Thibor Ferenczy, the greatest vampire of them all.

Brian Lumley creates a darker and more sinister bloodsucker that makes you cower inside. Thibor is nothing like the glamorous Lestat of the Vampire Chronicles. Instead of being romantic, Thibor is crude and lustful and would boast to his vampire son Boris of the border war days where he alone would butcher hundreds of men then rape over 50 women in a day. The Vampire is actually a slug-like being that bonds itself with it’s human host’s nervous system. This symbiont can only reproduce once in a lifetime, but will allow its host to live forever.

Brian and his book, the Necroscope, take us into the underworld of ESP secret agents. The plot puts us on the side of British secret service, but instead of 007, we have a youth named Harry Keough (the necroscope) who has ability to speak to the dead. He and the other members of the E-Branch (the title of the British ESP branch) are pitted against their Russian counterparts, and Boris Dragosani the Necromancer/Vampire, who was created by Thibor.

The book blends international espionage with the ancient lore of the Rumanian vampire. It classically pits good verses evil with a exciting build up to a climactic confrontation. Let’s just say that Brian doesn’t leave many of his character’s alive. Necroscope is book one of five and just touches upon the magnitude of the Vampire and its greatest foe, Harry Keough.