Review: Department 19 by Will Hill

Department 19

by Will Hill

Publication Date: March 31^st 2011

Publisher: Razorbill
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!