Bloodline by Kate Cary
Release Date: August 2006
Publisher: Penguin Group, RAZORBILL
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 324
John Shaw is sent to the front lines of World War One. He can’t help but awe at his Captain, Quincy Harker, but there is also something strange about him as well. When John is injured, he is sent back to England to recover. A nurse, Mary Seward, recognizes John and she nurses him back to health as well as befriends his sister who lives nearby, Lily. John suffers from a fever that causes delusions. Mary hoping to help calm his fears reads his diary to learn about what John has faced.
John describes his fearless leader Captain Harker and his strange ways of war, but of also his rescuing John. Mary tells Lily of Harker’s heroic act and when Harker comes to England he stays at the Shaw’s mansion. In turn winning the love of John’s sister Lily.
While John is away on business, he returns home to find Lily and Harker gone and a note that they are traveling to Transylvania where they are to be wed. John on learning the news, also learns the true identity of Captain Harker, he is a descendant of Dracula and a vampire himself. Fearing for his sister’s safety, John and Mary vow to rescue her from the clutches of Harker!
This is supposed to be a continuation of sorts of Dracula. Although I’ve never read Dracula, I most likely will someday. If you know anything about Dracula, you know that is a horror story. So don’t expect these vampires to be vegetarians like the Cullen/Hale clan or a soy-based blood substitute drinker like Morning McCobb. These vamps are the bloodsucking monsters that started it all. Even so, I really liked the story! It is told in diary entries like the original Dracula. It was nice to be able to see which each character was feeling. It made the story much more compelling. It’s obvious that Harker is a vampire, but Cary leaves a big twist for the end, one that I know I didn’t see coming! This was an awesome reinterpretation of a classic! I only wished I’d read it so I could compare. I am really looking forward to the next book Reckoning!