Interesting ideas

I did enjoy this book, being a lover of vampire stories. This is an interesting take on the subject and the story is good. Let down somewhat by the narrator, whose delivery and speech patterns reminded me of William Shatner, or more specifically Zap Brannigan!! This association did give an unintentional comedy to the tale.... but overall, not a bad production

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Excellent!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Great story from GM. Strigoi vampires in Europe and London! The reader does a good job with the various accents. Definitely worth listening to.

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a comedy/farce or a romance?

If I'd had to read it, I wouldn't have got past the first few chapters, but I had no credits and very few unread free books left!
Nevertheless I enjoyed it in a strange way.
The narrator's voice is pleasant, but those accents are hilarious, the pauses and emphasis totally comical.
The writing, especially the speech and the sex scenes; initially I couldn't decide how it could be serious, and if I was reading it I'm not sure if it would've been worse, or if the satire would still have been apparent! I can only assume that it was intended to be a satirical portrayal of mid 20th century English society, and the American's view of it through the genre of vampires, and as such I found it is a fun listen.
Definitely one to make your own mind up about.

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A good story by Graham Masterton

Garrick Hagon narrates this story really well.

A supernatural thriller from the master of suspense Californian James Falcon's compelling Romanian mother told him so many folk stories that by the time he reaches college in 1943, he is something of an expert on the strigoi, the legendary, undying vampires who infested the most isolated forests of Wallachia. Mostly as a joke, he writes a term paper on the strigoi. But the joke turns serious when US counterintelligence approach him to recruit his expertise. James hunts down strigoi murderers in war-ravaged Europe, Nazi assassins hired to run down run down the French and Belgian resistance in exchange for Transylvanian independence, although the principal one, the terrible Dorin Duca, continues to elude him. In the Cold War, he must fight once more, as Duca goes on the rampage, spreading his strigoi infection all across London, England. With Jill, a police dog handler of great beauty and resilience, James is assigned to Britain's MI6 to go on the hunt again. But even after thethreat is driven away, James will still uncover more secrets about the immortal predators ? secrets that come ever closer to home. There are two good twists at the end one I guessed the other I didn't.

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Deserves the 5* ratings.

This is one of the best books I listened to in a long time. I nearly didn’t download it because I am not that interested in vampires etc but this is a whole different take on the genre. It kept me enthralled from the beginning and just got better. Even the ending was a total surprise and I can often guess the ending. This book just keeps on giving. The narrator was excellent too, the voices sounded correct for the characters, not forced, which is a blessing.

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Hmmmmm

Not GMs finest book, but worth a listen, if you can get past the very corny English accents that the narrator uses, the story had a great deal of potential - but was fairly predictable,
I'm glad this was a "free" title.

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Every stereotypical post war Brit you can imagine

Having read some other of his books, I'm never quite sure if he has his tongue firmly in his cheek, but his dialogue in this book comes directly from British B movies circa 1950. Cringeworthy on occasion.

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Not the best vampire story but not the worst either

James Falcon is an expert on the strigoi, undying vampires. He is approached by US counterintelligence to hunt them down in war ravaged Europe. The Nazis having hired these vampires as assassins to run down resistance fighters.

On the one hand this is an interesting Vampire story. Based on Hungarian folk tales it had great potential. On the other hand, Nazi’s hiring vampires as assassins, I wasn’t sure about that. But it did sound interesting so I thought I’d give it a go. The story however goes beyond World War II and is mainly set in 1950’s London. Masterton does a credible job with his description of London in the 1950s. I even liked the American vampire Hunter who is sent to flush the vampires out with his typical stereotypical view of the English, drinking lots of tea and talking in ‘The same clipped accent as if everyone had been to elocution school’.

This is not the most exciting vampire story I have ever read, it does have a few gory scenes in it but it lacks a bit of pace and there is little tension. It is however an interesting take on the vampire genre and I liked the folk lore and legend of these particular vampires. The story isn’t very complex either and even though there is a twist at the end it is fairly obvious and I did see it coming. Also Duca, the vampire they are hunting, is Hungarian and I couldn’t help the connection with Bela Lugosi, even though he is described as a male version of Marlene Detreich I still couldn’t help picturing Lugosi.

Descendants is not the best vampire story I’ve ever read but it’s not the worst either. Also it’s not a very long book so it’s a quick read.

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Wish I'd Read the book

I rarely say this, but this is a story I wish I'd read rather than listened to. The story is pretty good, but the narrator sounds like Kent Brockman from the Simpson's. He really let's the story down which is a shame because with a different narrator it would have been more enjoyable.

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Hard going...

If you’ve listened to books by Graham Masterton before, how does this one compare?

First book I have listened too by this author - not entirely sure I would do another.

What didn’t you like about Garrick Hagon’s performance?

Arrggh. He was way to sing-songy for my liking. He had a strange accent and I didnt much care for his reading.

If this book were a film would you go see it?

Possible - it wasn't a bad tale - in fact, I auite enjoyed it, but there are better books out there!
If it was a movie, it would likely be in the B category!

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2 people found this helpful