The Dracula Dossier: A Novel of Suspense

The Dracula Dossier presents another fine experiment in prose style from the author of The Book of Spirits and The Witchery. Reese wrote the book in a style closely imitative of Stoker's as it is supposedly from the author of Dracula himself. It is mostly presented as Stoker's journal, in fact. However, it appears that Reese is limited to one or two prose styles per novel, which limitation works to lessen his achievement in this connection. Prose experiments are not new. The most important literary age for this may have come and gone in the 17th and 18th centuries with the epistelary novel (a novel written in letters between the characters, sometimes including journal or diary entries as well). In such a novel, each character had a necessarily individual style that helped to distinguish each character from another. I hold that The Dracula Dossier would have been a much richer book for including the diary entries and letters of other characters involved, such as Lady Wilde, the mother of Oscar Wilde, and Hall Caine, another victorian novelist well involved in the plot. Reese fails to take the opportunity to use these historic literary personages as writers in his novel, and so as readers we only get to read Reese's recreation of Stoker's prose. It left me wondering why James Reese would abandon such an opportunity. As great as The Dracula Dossier is, it would have been a much greater book if he had done as I've described. Most likely, his focus on Stoker is due to a fascination with the man himself, and so The Dracula Dossier is itself a tribute to Stoker, which is fine. I'm just saying this because I've read his past novels, and in each one Reese seems to focus on one character and one prose style, very well executed but still only one. He has done this before, and I am waiting for him to do more, to give us more, because I know he can. Rather than being a story about Dracula, The Dossier is a a story about Jack the Ripper, and how the events of that story, as presenced by Stoker and co., may have inspired the classic Dracula. Reese cleverly connects the Jack the Ripper murders and the Dracula story, harvesting the sensationalism of both to create an engrossing and well-written thriller. I was not disappointed and neither will you be.

Imagine finding Bram Stoker's journal. Imagine that it was written years before he wrote "Dracula" and imagine that that very scary vampire story was based partly on his run in with Jack the Ripper. Now there you'd have a story that would be fun to read and you can, because that's exactly what James Reese has done with THE DRACULA DOSSIER. I admit I expected a vampire story when I ordered this book and almost didn't get it, because vamps have been done to death lately. But, to my surprise, this is no vampire story and that's good. Mr. Reese borrows Mr. Stoker's writing style, telling his story in the form of journal entries, newspaper clippings, letters, telegrams and it comes complete with footnotes, which turned me off as much as they did in my college textbooks, so I did what I did back then, I ignored them. Also, and this really makes this story all the more intriguing, all of the main characters are real people. We have between the pages here: The famous actors of the time Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, William Butler Yeats, Oscar Wilde's mother Lady Jane Wilde, Walt Whitman and Novelist Thomas Henry Caine. It is 1888, Stoker is a depressed man who works for the Lyceum, a theater owned by Henry Irving and Ellen Terry. He meets con man and so called American Doctor Francis Tumblety through his friend Thomas Henry Caine. Stoker and Tumblety are introduced into the secret society the Order of the Golden Dawn at the same time and the initiation goes horribly wrong and Tumblety winds up being possessed by the Egyptian god Set, God of Storms, Wind and the Desert. God of evil too. Tumblety, goes on a prostitute killing spree and guess who the police are looking at for the crimes. Yep, Bram. So Stoker and his friends set about to prove his innocence. Can they? Well, we know the Ripper crimes were never solved and we know Stoker goes on to write Dracula, so obviously Stoker wasn't hanged for being the Ripper, but, even knowing that, it doesn't take away from the eerie feeling that starts to overcome you as you get into the second half of this book. Yeah, sadly, the first half is a bit slow going, but that's alright, it was interesting and intriguing to keep me turning the pages, but somewhere around the halfway mark I started reading faster, my heart started pumping faster and no way was I going to put this book down. Reviewed by Vesta Irene

I deliberated before giving this a five rather than four star rating, but I feel this is an absolute must read for certain readers, those who have read and enjoyed Mary Shelly's FRANKENSTEIN, Bram Stoker's DRACULA, novels by Wilkie Collins and Sheridan Le Fanu. This of course is also must reading for serious readers of any literature dealing with Jack The Ripper.I admit that I did find the first 63 pages very laborious reading, especially since I carefully read the "editor's" footnotes. However, I found the effort quite worthwhile as I became acquainted with principle characters, all of whom are authentic historical personages. Besides Stoker, there are Lady Jane Wilde (oscar Wilde's mother), Thomas Henry Hall Caine (a writer who was a far more successful and popular novelist than Stoker during the late 19th century but now totally and with good reason forgotten), Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, and Constance Wilde.In the second section, we also meet most notably Dr. Francis Tumblety who remains one of the primary persons suspected of the infamous and heinous slayings. The latter half of the book includes Inspector Frederick Abberline who, as Jack The Ripper devotees realize, has been portrayed on the screen by the likes of Michael Caine and Johnny Depp. Also prominent in the book is the secret society, The Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn, an authentic group which is still in existence.The story itself is quite engrossing as it progresses through three stages: the introductory background, the growing menace, and the very chilling and explicit supernatural horror of the latter half. The narrative develops from its very gentile yet colorful portrait of 19th century English society into graphic and gross descriptions of the crimes and isn't recommended for timid readers with sensitive digestion.Again, this is very rewarding reading for those who love 19th century gothic literature, but will likely bore those who haven't progressed beyond contemporary horror literature such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and recent graphic novels.

Told through diary entries, aides-de-memoire and letters, this is the story of Bram Stoker's reluctant involvement in the Jack the Ripper slayings in Victorian London. As manager of the Lyceum Theater, in the employ of the demanding and irascible Sir Henry Irving, Stoker is harried and exhausted, and the story begins with Stoker's bloody journey down Fifth Avenue. Through letters and diary entries, like Stoker's masterpiece, this tale of murder and the occult slowly evolves through Stoker's eyes and is a darkly rich one, indeed. With secondary characters such as the colorful Lady Jane Wilde (Oscar's mother), Ellen Terry, Constance Wilde, and the persistent Inspector Abberline, Stoker finds himself the unwilling sponsor of one Dr. Francis Tumblety into the theatrical and literary circles in which he moves. To Stoker's dismay, Dr. Tumblety soon insinuates himself into the Lyceum Theater's inner sanctum as Sir Henry's friend, and into Lady Wilde's Saturday 'conversazioni', but discomfort turns into horror when Tumblety's true nature is revealed at an Egyptian ritual and the bloodletting begins. How Stoker and his intrepid friends resolve the Ripper killings is a wonderful read indeed, culminating in a chilling denouement in the dungeon of Edinburgh Castle. Reese is a master of atmosphere and subtle humor, and paints vivid portraits of Stoker and his friends. An unexpected treat is the active participation of historical characters, who behave exactly as one would expect. Why 'Dracula' in the title? Through annotations and footnotes, the reader follows Stoker's thought processes and inspiration for writing the ultimate horror novel. This is exactly the kind of novel I most enjoy, and while the Victorian style and lengthy footnotes might not be to everyone's taste, I thoroughly enjoyed it. This would be a great book to read in the dead of winter, curled up in the warm safety of one's own library.

Without doubt, the most striking feature of this work is the eerily resonant quality of the prose. It truly is very much as if Bram Stoker himself were being channelled through the pen of James Reese. The tone, the syntax, even the very semantics are quite similar. As indeed the structure of the plot and atmosphere and the totally spooky narration and description of late Victorian London, the Ripper's Whitechapel milieu, and the characterizations of Stoker's artsy/literary/theatre-ish circle. This is very classy writing and engaging storytelling. While there are similarities and comparisons can certainly be made to the work of Caleb Carr, Chelsea Yarbro (at least somewhat), even Dickens, a bit of Anne Rice (some lovely baroque descriptions), Kim Newman, and Christopher Golden, James Reese has a clear, strong, and original voice all his own. Perfect autumnal reading.