Wild Isle Review:

WARNING! INEVITABLE SPOILERS BELOW!

Dracula's Guest is a fun, fast paced urban fantasy action/mystery that doesn't take itself too seriously, packed with tons of inspiration from history, myth, legend, folklore, and more. Speaking of packing, aside from Vlad’s wooden-stake sword and .357 Magnum, Dracula’s Guest packs two protagonists. They are: Camilla Constance Lilly (or Cammy, for short); and Vlad, the Impaler, Dracula himself. Through a turn of bad luck (*cough* malicious parental interference *cough*) these unlikely companions end up living under the same roof, hunting vampires like a pair of old-school detectives.

Starting off with its strengths, Dracula’s Guest delivers best when it comes to its name sake. Vlad is a great character, certainly the most well rounded in the novel (and the most researched—we are dealing with a fictionalized version of the real-life Impaler, after all), and just about anyone will enjoy reading his flat, matter-of-fact dialogue in a thick Romanian accent (even when the narrator says he isn't speaking in one, do it anyway for maximum enjoyment).

With that being said, Vlad’s good qualities somewhat highlight our other protagonist’s weaknesses. If you want to see a somewhat oblivious, early twenties something lady learn a little bit about reality, then Cammy will be right up your ally as well. However, beware that her development feels a little bit uneven and rushed for the sake of the plot. Sometimes she’s quick witted enough to slip a phone into vampire’s pocket without him noticing, and then later she becomes a clueless millennial / zoomer who makes mistakes like walking into obvious traps (multiple times, in fact).

With more time, and more weaknesses on Vlad’s parts, Cammy would have had much more room to shine. As is, she is meant to be Vlad’s bridge into modern technology and culture, but as that seems to get us is a laptop and a security system (Vlad says himself he isn’t so resistant to learning or change). Had Vlad been more stubborn about coming into modernity (giving Cammy more to offer him), and had Cammy had a slower, more consistent, more believable progression from barista to amateur vampire-slayer, then the plot would have been that much stronger.

But like I said, the book already doesn’t take itself too seriously, and so suspension of disbelief isn’t too much a problem. Despite my complaints above (and a couple miss-placed historical exposition dumps, the last scene with Cammy’s mom, the last scene with Vlad arguing with his boss, and a number of typos), I enjoyed myself the entire time. It’s a good first novel, and I expect the next will be a substantial improvement on what is already a fun foundation.

I look forward to picking up the next one, and if urban fantasy vampire action with a heavy dash of legend and history sounds up your ally, you can grab your copy of Amaya Tenshi’s Dracula’s Guest by clicking the picture at the beginning of this review (the kindle version anyway; there are also hard copies available through Barnes and Noble).