Hunting Prince Dracula (Stalking Jack the Ripper, #2)

by Kerri Maniscalco

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper's true identity, Audrey Rose has no choice but to flee London and its memories. She journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe's best schools of forensic medicine...and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend. But her life's dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school's forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

• ISBN10: 0316514829
• ISBN13: 9780316514828
• Publish Date: 28 September 2017 (first published 19 September 2017)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Imprint: Little, Brown Young Readers
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelly]

For more reviews visit my blog here.

The snow falls softly in Bucharest as the carriage journey reaches Institutului Național de Criminalistică și Medicană Legală, the Academy of Forensic Medicine and Science in Romania. The prestigious program is discerning and only permits astute, ingenious scholars from Europe and abroad. The villagers of Brașov are speculating the return of the Prince of Wallachia as mortal remains are discovered, the institute castle once home to The Prince of Darkness and a region immersed in Strigoi mythology.

Audrey Rose continues to endure traumatic distress often hallucinating, the remnants of her East London experience. The Romanian school of Forensic Medicine and Science suggests no reprieve as Audrey Rose and Thomas observe a young man slain before arriving at the prestigious institute. The ritualistic slaughter continues as victims are exsanguinated and brought to the institute for a postmortem examination to determine the cause of death.

Once again Audrey Rose is challenged by the male dominated environment, headmaster Moldoveanu a misogynistic, authoritarian man and warden to a charming young woman who is lodging at the institute during the winter. Anastasia provides Audrey Rose with companionship and along with chambermaid Ileana, begin a tentative and supportive friendship. Throughout the narration, mental wellness is a point of contention for Audrey Rose and Thomas, impacting their friendship as Thomas undermines Audrey Rose and her capacity at the institute. Thomas often contends with self impassiveness, preserving his sensitivity but in Hunting Prince Dracula, Thomas begins to dismantle those barriers.

Inspired by Romanian folklore and The Impaler, Hunting Prince Dracula is wonderfully composed, opulent and theatrical. Kerri Maniscalco is a remarkable author, grandiose and accomplished.

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

~*Full review here on The Bent Bookworm!*~

First of all: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR BOOK 1 IN THIS SERIES – you can read my review of Stalking Jack the Ripper if you don’t want to be spoiled but are intrigued by this post. If you haven’t read SJTR you are SO missing out, please go read right now. KTHXBAI.

Hunting Prince Dracula was the PERFECT book to start off my HalloweenWR. The atmosphere is thick and foreboding and raise-the-hair-on-the-back-of-your-neck creepy. Not for the faint of heart either, are the detailed descriptions of cadavers and dissection. I found them enormously cool and interesting but they might gross out some people. The Victorian trappings are lovely as well – all the fancy dresses and clothes, and rules (which Audrey and Thomas are only too delighted to break), and THIS CASTLE OMG. I want to live in a castle. Or even just near a castle. And a forensics school, IN Dracula’s castle…where do I sign up?? I would need some heat though. That forest in those mountains and in a stone castle…pretty sure my fingers and toes would drop off. That said, I would totally plan an entire vacation (how about a month, shall we?) around visiting Dracula’s castle and the area surrounding.

Audrey Rose and Thomas are just as adorable in this book as in the last. I didn’t QUITE understand why they danced around their attraction to each other SO MUCH in the first part of the book…it kind of felt like Audrey had regressed in her Victorian prudishness…but maybe I’m remembering things from the first book wrong. I know they had only kissed like…once, I think? Thomas is just as abrasive and unaware of societal rules as ever, only now he is SO concerned about Aubrey that he makes some well-meaning but nearly unforgivable blunders. The tension is veeeeeeery drawn out through the book but I thought it was cute and sweet.

We also get to meet Daciana, Thomas’s sister in this book, and she is a very exciting addition to the cast. She is spunky and hilarious and completely unafraid of all the Victorian rules – she does what she thinks is right and what will make her and those she loves happy. I hope we get to see more of her but from the ending of this book I think she gets left behind for the next. Boo.

Okay, so the plot. Obviously, SOMEONE is leaving bodies around…someone who seems strangely obsessed with the bloodline of Dracula (the real one, not the Bram Stoker one). Naturally, Audrey Rose and Thomas have to investigate. Because the real authorities, also naturally, are bumbling around doing not much of anything. Things escalate, more people go missing, they discover SO MANY SECRETS in the castle (ahem – secret passages and tunnels – WHEN CAN I LIVE IN A PLACE WITH SECRET TUNNELS?), and no one is who they seem to be or who they are supposed to be. It’s deliciously creepy and just when you thought you knew who you could trust…

I will admit, I didn’t see that ending coming. I had a sneaking suspicious that THAT person had something to do with it, but then once a certain OTHER event occured…you know, it’s really hard to review mystery books, because of the risk of giving something away. But the ending was TOTALLY creepy and TOTALLY worth it.

Do I even need to discuss the setting? *points at pictures above * It was beautiful and I am insanely jealous of anyone who gets to so much as VISIT a place like that, let alone live there. Even in a time without heat. 😛

5/5 stars. I am so put out that we have to wait ANOTHER ENTIRE YEAR for Book 3!

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OMG HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT AN ENTIRE YEAR FOR THE NEXT ONE?!??

RTC!
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And we have a title!! *squee*

[Beth C.]

I read the first book in the series and enjoyed it. I think I liked this one even better. Fun, intriguing, fast-paced story based off of one of the most famous stories/legends of all time. Looking forward to reading the next one when it comes out!

[Chelsea]

**I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Thoughts right after finishing
Just as good (possibly better?) than the first book!

LIKES
- Audrey Rose and Thomas are pretty much the most adorable couple ever. I love it when they work together.
- Thomas really started coming out of his shell in this one. He was joking around a lot more and even disclosed some information about himself!
- I liked the creepy atmosphere of Hunting Prince Dracula. It had a very creepy Gothic vibe which I loved.
- The mystery was a lot of fun to try and solve. Like the first book, I did guess who it was pretty early on (though I was thrown off for a bit near the end, you'll see!) and I do wish it was a little less predictable at times. I did enjoy how they discovered the killer and all the ties to Dracula were really cool.
- I also really loved that the setting was a medical school in this giant castle. Definitely added to the creepy vibes.
- Lots of awesome girl power in this book!

DISLIKES
- There wasn't too much I didn't like about Hunting Prince Dracula. I think the plot could have gone a little faster, it did drag at certain points and I wish I hadn't been able to guess the killer so quickly.
- I'm still a little confused as to why the killer did what he/she did. The motive just didn't feel strong enough to me and there's a few questions I have regarding it all.

[layawaydragon]

I don't know why, but it wasn't as amazing as the first book, Stalking Jack. Maybe because it's no longer "new" concept...? Still really good though. I will be continuing the series and seeing how they fare in the next Adventure.