Department 19-the Rising was an action-packed book about vampires trying to take over the world with only the Departments all over the world being the only thing that could stop them. Department 19 is a secret agency in our own world but they are just so secret that we don’t even know that they exist with us as they save us from threats all around the world in the shadows.

For me, however, the book seemed rather lengthy with a few dragged-out scenes, I also wasn’t a big fan of the main antagonist either. The book had all of the antagonists as vampires which I didn’t really like, but it was fine because it is just the characters which doesn't matter that much. Their being vampires did give them a lot of strength and their necessary antagonist edge but I wish they maybe chose something else for the antagonist. Otherwise, though the main idea for the book was really good with the secret government agency that lives in our world but we just don’t know that they are here. It also had a good amount of action throughout the majority of the book and that was a good upside but then it just went straight back to boring stuff for a while making me want the action, even more, when it came.

The fact that there were three main characters was nicer as well because more action could happen. It would switch back and forth from the Department 19 group, to Dracula, and to Frankenstein which in some cases would be nice because now something new was going on. However, sometimes it would be some big action seen, and then it just switched to a different character to follow currently or tell more backstory on. I actually skipped a whole chapter because the scenes when it cut to Frankenstein were kind of boring and I was just getting into a good action part when it cut halfway and when to that so I just got back to what I was reading.

Otherwise, it was a decent book, if you like a lot of bad and forth with action and then nothing while a lot of detail to give you an image in your head with cliffhangers, then this could be an alright read for you and a good way to pass time. However, I probably would not recommend this book the most people that I know because I feel like they could find something better. ( )

The overlong, occasionally tedious, but overall super fun sequel to Department 19 has Dracula in it, trying to regain his strength after a long time as a dust pile and some bones, but, you know, no such memorable exchanges like this one:

Buffy: Who are you?
Dracula: I apologize. I assumed you knew. I am Dracula.
Buffy: (fangirly glee) Get out!

or this one:

Xander: Nice. Look who's got a bad case of Dark Prince envy.
Dracula: I have no interest in you. Leave us.
Xander: No, we're not going to (imitates Dracula's accent) leave you. And where'd you get that accent Sesame Street? One, two, three ‰ÃƒÂ›ÃƒÂ“ three victims. Mwah, ha, ha, ha!
Buffy: Xander, I'm pretty sure that's Dracula.
Xander: Wow, really? Hey, sorry, man, I was... just jokin' around.

What it does have is lots of GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!

And about a hundred characters switching viewpoints very quickly so that certain battles feel like those slo-mo action scenes in movies! (Which actually worked pretty well.)

And more GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!

And A LOT of flashbacks! So many that I started to get sort of lost! (And let's face it, I skimmed some of Dracula's origin story chapters and Frankenstein's journey back to the group, which took place in present time AND in flashbacks because I wanted to get to the real story -- you know, what's happening in Department 19 these days -- because of the GOOOOOOOOOOOORE!)

If the first book in the series was like a summer blockbuster movie, this one is the overstuffed sequel everyone expected, with more battles and explody things and less character development and an unconvincing romance between two characters and a supposedly game-changing plot development that everybody saw coming from a mile (seriously, a mile, did you see how long this book is?), but somehow, it is still enjoyable to those who liked the first one. What can I say -- I had fun reading this book. I read it in a day. Hill's writing is cinematic, and when we're not delving into the past for too long just to give a character his motivation, the pacing is killer. But I'm not sure who I'd recommend this to, aside from people who loved the first book and those who are willing to wade through lots of words to get to the GOOOOOOOOOOORE.

This series should really become a movie and/or video game and I think it will find the wide audience it deserves. It would be light years better than Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, I can tell you.

(Read more quotes from: http://www.buffyguide.com/episodes/buffyvsd/buffyvsdquotes.shtml#ixzz27xgJn0p7)
( )

Review originally posted at The Book Zone (For Boys).

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. ( )

This is the second book in a series that combines vampires, Frankenstein's monster as a James Bond type operative and vampire hunters like Van Helsing to tell the story of what would happen if the alpha dog vampire of all time, Count Dracula, was brought back to life. We are caught in the love triangle between young Jaime and the two female operatives as they combat the vampires and try to minimize collateral damage.
Department 19 is a government agency we will never hear about but it makes me sleep better at night to know they are there. Boys will love the Navy Seal uber-cool operatives as they slash and stake the vampires but my favorite is Frankenstein's monster as the gentle giant operative that no one wants to mess with. ( )

Going to read next