Department
19
by
Will Hill
Publication
Date: March 31st 2011
Publisher:
Razorbill
Source: Bought
Source: Bought
Find
This Book: Department 19
Rating:
5/5
I
just finished it yesterday! It was really good. It's vampire-y but not like
sissy vampires. More like cross me and I'll rip your throat out. There's a
little Van Helsing, Dracula, and Frankenstein (but they're not major characters,
at least not yet). It
was a little all over the place for a bit as far as telling the story goes but
all the threads came together nicely so it was all ok haha I'd totally
recommend D19 to people!
So
what is this book about? It's about this guy named Jamie Carpenter. He grew up
knowing that his father was a traitor to the British government along with
bullies constantly reminding him. Around his 16th birthday, his mom was
kidnapped and a Vampire named Alexandru attacks him! Alexandru is one of the 3
original brothers that Dracula himself turned. How will Jamie ever survive?
Frankenstein, THE Frankenstein monster, comes and saves him? Why? Because
Frankenstein made a promise to Jamie's dad to always be there for the Carpenter
family. The Carpenter family is part of a secret British Government department
called Blacklight, Department Nineteen. When Dracula was killed by Van Helsing
and those 3 other guys, they formed Department Nineteen to train future Vampire
Hunters! Most people who join are selected from elite military people, but when
a guy descendent of the founders turns 16, he's asked if he wants to join.
Seeing as his mom was kidnapped, of course he says yes.
He
goes through a lot of cool vampire training (quite an interesting read just for
that sake, if nothing else) and during Jamie's stories there's flashbacks to
the original people who killed Dracula.
One
thing I don't understand is the couple Larissa and Jamie. I don't understand
why Larissa likes him! I mean he's not a bad guy but the relationship was out
of nowhere with no sturdy footing. I’m totally fine with romance, but the book
was super badass and it just seemed like a relationship because the author
wanted one in the nook, not because the characters were meant for each other.
I
also thought that Dracula and Jamie's mom tied in nicely to the book. Vampires
don't need a cause. They do things because they CAN. Which makes them one of
the ultimate predators and brings a certain element that twilight just can’t
grasp (plus they don’t sparkle haha). The ending was a huge jaw dropper and
brought about a wake up call to Jamie. When I finished, I couldn’t wait to get
my hands on book 2! It was just a shame that I bought this book in New Zealand
3 years ago without the second or third. Thank god for the Internet though, I
was able to get The Rising shipped to me online, But now they have the series
at Barnes and Nobles… a bit to late for me but all the convenience for you!