Necroscope V: Deadspawn

I think I'm done with the Necroscope series, at least for the time being. And hey, technically this is the end of the first Necroscope series.

On the negative side:

This feels like 2 or 3 novels shoved together. There's the parts on Earth where Harry tracks down a serial killer. Then there are the Wamphyri in exile in the Icelands and what they find there. Then finally, there's Harry in the Vampire world and the final showdown. It all more or less comes together at the end, but switching back and forth was a bit rough.

The horror, especially around the serial killer plot line, just got too horrific for me. It certainly works as a shock factor I guess.

The relationship (as it was) between Penny and Harry was weird, abrupt, and ugly. show more Especially in how it ended. And I don't feel like it actually needed to be there for the story to progress as is it did.

Speaking of which, Harry went dark. Given how too-good he was before, I thought a turn as anti-hero would be nice. It wasn't. It felt completely out of character for Harry. More in line for a vampire, but it's not what I was wanting to read in that character.

The sex scene with Lady Karen was ... weird. It certainly fits the horror scenes of the world, but I feel like I'm going to read a palette cleaner after this.

On the positive side:

I still really do like the worldbuilding around vampires in this world. They're actually horrific and alien, but with related aspects from their former human lives. All together, that seems something less common in modern vampire literature, so it's nice to see here. This was even better and weirder this time around, especially with some of the ancient ones come back.

I think it's time for something lighter. show less

There's a maniacal murderer on the loose, brutally slaughtering young women with a ferocity that rivals that of vampires Harry Koegh has spent his life combatting. The Necroscope's been asked to solve the crimes...asked by the dead spirits of the madman's victims.Harry cannot turn down a request from the dead...even if it costs him his soul. In the climactic battle with the vampires, mankind prevailed and purged the vampires from earth--thanks to Harry, his team of psychically-gifted spies, and Faethor Ferenczy, long-dead 'father' of the world's vampires, who betrayed his own kind.But Harry's alliance with Faethor has a terrible cost--Harry's very humanity is under attack from the vampire evil coiled in his mind!

Deadspawn, the fifth entry in to the Necroscope series, starts off with a solid air of menace and foreboding. Harry, now fighting against a darker inner self, becomes entangled with E-Branch in a search for a new and violent paranormal psychopath. Deadspawn is no rehash of any previous titles and half way sees the introduction of a new plot which is used to bring the finale together. However, the secondary story is the polar opposite of the first and slows the pace and removes the fresh appeal that the narrative was offering. Clearly Lumley is looking to close the story down and the endgame seems rather rushed. It's a decent enough entry in the series, although a great story is overshadowed by the author's desire for closure.

It was a long time since I had read this series, so I was glad to read an extensive recap at the beginning of this book. I enjoyed this book about Keough and how he's changing and I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Blood Brothers.

Definitely worthy of a re-read. Big fan of Brian Lumley's work and Harry Keough and the world of the Necroscope is one of his best creations.

This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.com by express permission of this reviewer Title: Deadspawn Series: Necroscope Author: Brian Lumley Rating: 2 of 5 Stars Genre: Horror/Thriller Pages: 558 Synopsis: Spoilers. Harry is a vampire. And he raises several others from their dead ashes. And he messes around with other ESP'ers talents. Eventually he runs away to Starside after dealing with a serial murderer who is also a necromancer. On Starside things aren't looking so good either. The Dweller has show more devolved, Karen is alive and Shaithis has hooked up with the original Vampire, who just happens to be called Shaitan. Yeah. The original Cast Out One. Finally, nukes are involved! My Thoughts: Each book so far in this series has really pushed the edges. However, this one really disturbed me. The pages long perverted vampire sex; the descent of Harry and the choices he makes that kills off friend after friend after friend; the complete and utterly distorted philosophy dumps mixed with new age feel good crapola. It all combined to make me feel like I'd been dragged through a septic tank. However, it was still really good writing and due to how much I've enjoyed the previous books, I'm going to let the next book have a chance. But if it approaches the level of disturbingness that was this book, then I'll be done with Lumley. " show less

Could there be anything more unsettling than the Vamps that Harry has put down? Of course.... him being one himself.