Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco | Book Review

Title: Hunting Prince Dracula

Author: Kerri Maniscalco

Series: Stalking Jack The Ripper #2

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thrillers, Romance

Publisher: Little Brown & Company

Publication date: September 19th, 2017

Pages: 434

My rating:

Bone white. Blood red. Along this path, you’ll soon be dead.

Following the horrifying revelation of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth flees her home in Victorian London to enroll as the only female student in Europe’s most prestigious forensics school. But it’s impossible to find peace in the dark, unsettling Romanian castle that houses the school—and was also once home to the depraved Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Prince Dracula.

When a series of troubling deaths brings whispers of Vlad’s bloodthirsty return from the grave, Audrey Rose and her sharp-witted companion, Thomas Cresswell, must unravel the cryptic clues that will lead them to the shadowlike killer—living or dead.

“White, red, evil, green. What haunt these woods stays unseen.

Bone white, blood red. Along this path you’ll soon be dead.”

Ugh guys, this book was SOO good! I cannot believe how much I adored it. I read Stalking Jack the Ripper last year and really enjoyed it, so needless to say I was going to read this one once it was out. And I have to say I read it in the perfect time, now that we are in October with the weather changing, and Halloween almost here.

This installment was so much better than the first one, without any doubt. In the first book we were beginning to learn about those characters and their story in London with the main focus being Jack the Ripper, but in this one we already knew those characters, and I feel everything was so much better, which is surprising because usually second books in a series tend to be the weakest, but it wasn’t the case with this one.

“The world is neither kind nor cruel. It simply exists. We have the ability to view it however we choose.”

The whole plot in Hunting Prince Dracula became much more complex and deeper. It was more descriptive and atmospheric it felt as if the reader was inside the book living that story instead of being an outsider. I really adored this aspect of the book, because in this time of the year I’m looking for spooky things, and being so engrosed in a story was perfect for me.

The author did an amazing job with the background and the whole setting of the book. It kept me up at night wanted to continue reading, thinking about the book even when I wasn’t actually reading it and guessing what happened with the whole murder-thing.

Which leads me to the mystery situation. IT WAS SO MUCH BETTER. In the first novel I knew who Jack the Ripper was since the very beginning, so unfortunately that’s something I had in mind when rating it, because I wanted to be mind blown, and well, I wasn’t. But in this particular one you could tell it was much deeper and mysterious. and I have to admit, the author played me. A LOT. I wasn’t completely shocked, because at times I suspected something like that coming, but I was satisfied with that part of the story, whereas in Stalking Jack the Ripper I was a bit disappointed.

“There’s something powerful in that kind of love, something that deserves to bre kindled and tended to, even when its ember are flickering dangerously close to darkness.”

And now my favourite part. Yes, you guessed it: THE CHARACTERS. I cannot tell you how much I love and cherrish those characters, because ever since the first installment I knew they were going to become some of my favourite ones. The interactions between Audrey Rose and Thomas were on point and so hilarious sometimes I laughed out loud. And not only there was an amazing, supportive and, being frankly honest, a healthy YA relationship, but the entire cast of characters were so good.

Audrey Rose was so intelligent, brave and strong. You already knew that after the first book, but honestly, she did surprise me in this one. I loved her development in the book and how she took no shit of anyone. And well, Thomas was a lovable character, and we got to see a bit of his back story, which was mostly a mystery in the first novel.

It was really fast-paced and the ending was soo good. I cannot wait to read the next book and see what things are going to happen to them in their stay in America, because so far this book (and the series in general) is becoming one of my favourites.