Dracula, by Bram Stoker

Finally I've come to read Dracula... the vampire classic that has never been out of print since it was first published in 1897, the flagship book that has spawned countless contributions to vampire lore, up to the present day with the popularity of Twilight and the Vampire Diaries, the age-old story that everyone is familiar with.

Not quite. I settled down to read Dracula, with the thought that I would probably fly through the book, as I felt I know the story so well, but i was very mistaken!! Surprisingly, for a book that is so vivid in people's consciousness, the book is actually a very different tale to the one I though I knew.

The book is set out as a series of letters and journal entries by various characters, detailing what happens throughout the story and how their individual actions end up bringing their stories together and affecting the final outcome. The first character we are introduced to is Jonathan Harker, a solicitor who is travelling to the castle home of Count Dracula of Transylvania, in order to assist him with the legal issues involved with the purchase of real estate in England. At first, everything appears to be in order and Mr Harker and the Count get on amicably, until Mr Harker realizes that he is a prisoner in the castle, causing things to take a dark turn.

While we are slowly being introduced to Count Dracula and his possible dark intentions, the story cuts between Jonathan Harker's narrative and that of Mina Murray, who is Jonathan Harker's fiancée, and her friend Lucy Westenra.The two girls are close friends who correspond frequently, and we get a fair insight into their lives through their letters to each other, and later the diary entries of Mina Murray, after she moves to spend an extended visit with Lucy, who mysteriously starts to waste away.

Another narrative strand is dictated by Dr John Seward, a suitor of Lucy's who is in charge of the local lunatic asylum, which features heavily in his sections of the story. As he becomes more alarmed about Lucy's health, Dr Seward calls for the aid of his trusted mentor, Professor Abraham Van Helsing of Amsterdam. Realizing what is behind Lucy's health issues, the Professor at first attempts to help Lucy without telling anyone of his suspicions, for fear of others disbelief.

At this point, the stage is set... all the characters are in place, we are privy to their innermost thoughts and wishes, and the sense of impending doom has already crept up on us! The sheer level of tension in the book is a masterpiece, as it rises and rises with each page, through hints and implications that are revealed by each character, often before they have managed to piece their own thoughts together and realize what is actually happening. I was always a bit wary of epistolary novels, thinking that there would be too much jumping about and the story would be too fractured, but Bram Stoker weaves each narrative thread together with skill and grace which has to be seen (read?) to be believed. After reading this, I can completely understand why it has remained in print for over 110 years, which is a fantastic achievement for a book which is basically a retelling of a popular folklore. The success of the story is absolutely unbelieveable, and its a success many authors pray that that can emulate today. The basic story has spawned its own genre, and you can see its influence in things as diverse as Sesame Street, through to the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

This book is a solid five stars from me - I'm reluctant to award full marks to anything, but if anything deserves it, this does! A true classic which stands up to repeated re-reads, I plan on buying the annotated version for my next re-read, to get a bit more depth to the story. So switch off Vampire Diaries, and put down the Twilight saga, and go back to basics with the book that started it all. All thoughts, feelings and opinions welcome!!

Mr Peanut, by Adam Ross

According to WWW.dictionary.com, a Mobius strip is 'a continuous, one-sided surface formed by twisting one end of a rectangular strip through 180 degrees about the longitudinal axis of the strip and attaching this end to the other.' This creates a never-ending, twisting strip that on closer inspection, is much more complex that it first appears. This links in to the story of Mr Peanut, by Adam Ross, in several different ways... by being referencing in the book, by having a character known as only as Mobius, and by having a tangled, twisty, hard to follow tale!

Mr Peanut is one of the biggest books of 2010, and after hearing about it frequently, most notably on the Bookrageous podcast, where it has been mentioned in nearly every episode, I was intrigued enough to pick it up, and what a book it turned out to be!

The book has a complex story and structure, jumping between characters and their stories, both in the present time and each character's backstory. The story initially seems to be about Alice and David Pepin, a married couple living in New York. The police are called to investigate the suspicious death of Alice, who has died after eating peanuts, which she has a life-threatening allergy to, but did she eat them or did her husband force them down her throat? That is the question facing the two detectives sent to investigate the case, each of whom have complex marital relations of their own. Ward Hastroll's wife has taken to her bed and not left it for five months, and will not reveal why, despite Detective Hastroll's best efforts to bully, threaten and cajole her. Sam Sheppard was implicated in his wife's murder, years earlier, and the book revisits his tale, trying to solve the mystery of who actually killed Detective Sheppard's wife Marion.

Mr Peanut is a dark look at marriage, after the honeymoon period, when sometimes the person you have pledged your life to is the person that you can't stand the most. David Pepin is working on a novel, which at some stages appears to be the novel that you're actually reading, and its never very clear if he's writing about the way things actually happened, or the way he wishes that they would have happened. He writes about fantasizing of all the different ways his wife could die, with one notable example being Alice choking to death on a peanut... which brings us back to the start. Another thread of the tale involves Mr Pepin hiring a mysterious hit man to kill Alice, known only as Mobius, but then changing his mind and trying to prevent Mobius from completing the job. In another link back to the main story, Mobius the hitman is arrested, and will only talk to Detective Sheppard, constantly questioning him about the circumstances of his late wife Marion's death. This is a re-telling of the real life story of Sam Sheppard, who was convicted and then later acquitted of the Marion Sheppard's murder.

I found the structure of the book fairly complex, the shifts between reality and fiction can take a bit of getting used to, but I really enjoyed the book. Its one of the very few books that i wanted to re-read as soon as I had finished it, which I think says a lot about a story. The narrative thread draws you along, and ratchets up the tension until you can't wait to find out what is going to happen at the end! As you can probably tell from this review, I find this book hard to describe, but I would urge everyone to please give it a try, it may lead you into places you would never expect! I give this book four stars, as I feel this will be a regular re-read for me! If you have read it, (or if you are now planning to), please leave me a comment and tell me your thoughts!!

Brighton Rock, by Graham Greene

I've heard of this book, and of Graham Greene, quite a few times over the years, but it had never quite grabbed my interest enough to pick up and read - I've always got a long list of other books waiting to be read! However, I saw that the film adaptation was due to come out, and when discussing it with my friend, she said that she had read the book and it turned out to be one of the best books she'd ever read. That intrigued me, so I decided to read the book before the film came out... and I'm SO glad I did.

The story is set in the 30's, revolving around a cast of characters in Brighton, who are brought together as part of a larger story arc. Its very cinematic in style, changing from scene to scene very quickly, which I think will be adapted to film very well.

The story revolves around Pinkie Brown, a 17 year old who has elected himself leader of a gang in Brighton after the previous leader has been murdered, after being betrayed by a journalist called Hale. In order to take revenge, Pinkie murders Hale, and arranges an alibi to protect himself and the rest of the gang. Unfortunately for Pinkie, this murder and its consequences cause a spiral into a desperate situation, forcing him to take ever more desperate measures to cover up his original murder. Rose, an innocent young girl, is also dragged into the nightmare, as the only person who could ruin the gang's alibi. In order to prevent her from revealing anything incriminating, Pinkie is forced to marry her, as wives cannot give evidence against their husbands in a court of law. Ida Arnold is Pinkie's nemesis in this tale, slowly piecing together the circumstances of the murder and attempting to bring Pinkie to justice and save Rose from her sociopathic husband.

The story of Pinkie's struggle to keep control and how actions and their consequences can ripple out and touch the lives of many unrelated people is fascinating. In the process of setting up his gang's alibi, Pinkie and some of his men come into contact with Rose at Snow's, the restaurant where she works. Ida Arnold happened to meet Hale shortly before he is murdered by Pinkie, and is driven to seek out the truth by her utter belief that he came to harm because she didn't stay with him. After Ida realises who is behind the murder, she relentlessly pursues Pinkie, asking questions and slowly closing the net around him, which pushes him into extreme behaviour as he tries to rescue his situation.

I found the most intriguing character to be Rose. Seemingly innocent, I think she was actually very ambiguous. Its never quite clear exactly how much she knows about the murder, or if she realises how vital her knowledge of the murder is. There are several moments throughout the book that make me believe that she is much more aware than she lets on, but allows the marriage to proceed because she has truly fallen in love with Pinkie. Its also interesting as Pinkie hates her throughout the book, but I think that is due to the similarities he sees between their backgrounds and upbringing, and that Pinkie maybe sees a lot of himself in Rose. There are moments when he appears to start caring for her, but they are overshadowed by his own determination to be in absolute control at all costs.

The tension in the book in fantastic, with an ominous building and building of suspense until the shocking finale. This is a fantastic book, and can easily stand next to any contemporary writing with regards to characterisation, plot, and pacing. Its a fairly short read - it was under 200 pages on my ereader - but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and plan to re-read, and look out some more Graham Greene novels in the future! A solid four stars from me, its a very very good book, and I'm looking forward to seeking out more Graham Greene in the future.