Harry Keogh is a necroscope -- he knows the thoughts of corpses in their graves. Unfortunately for Harry, his talent works both ways. The outer limits of horror are unleashed when Harry Keogh is recruited by the E-Branch (E for ESP) of the British Secret Service to combat his own evil counterpart, the deadly Romanian Boris Dragosani. Long buried in hallowed ground, bound by earth and silver, the master vampire schemes and plots. Trapped in unlife, neither dead nor living, Thibor Ferenczy hungers for freedom and revenge. The vampire's human tool is Boris Dragosani, part of a super-secret Soviet spy agency. Dragosani is an avid pupil, eager to plumb the depthless evil of the vampire's mind. Ferenczy teaches Dragosani the awful skills of the necromancer, gives him the ability to rip secrets from the mind and bodies of the dead. Dragosani works not for Ferenczy's freedom but is in the pay of an ultra-secret Soviet paranormal agency over which he means to gain power for himself with knowledge raped from the dead. His speciality is tearing secrets from the souls of newly dead traitors. His only opponent: Harry Koegh. Like Dragosani, Harry is a necroscope who can speak with the dead.But Harry is a champion of the dead -- and the living.

From the Romanian mausoleum where the undead vampire tests the limits of his bonds, the stage is set for the most horrifying, violent supernatural confrontation ever when Harry Keogh is recruited by the British Secret Service to take on Dragosani. To protect Harry, the dead will do anything -- even rise from their graves!

2008-04-24 Just read it, 'cos it's really really really good.

I've just finished reading this, my first Brian Lumley book. As is always the case when switching from one author to another I found it a bit difficult to properly 'get into' but once I was familiar with Lumleys writing style I was totally and utterly emersed. I don't read very fast (usually a few pages at night now and again whilst in bed) but I couldn't get this book and it's characters and it's stories out of my head. I read it every night without fail. It's certainly very well constructed - the story goes all over the place but never confuses. One minute you think you're reading a thriller the next a biography and then the next sheer horror. It's nicely in-depth without becoming boring and the many evolving sub-plots all work together seamlessly. I won't give any spoilers but suffice to say when I'd finished it I had a big smile on my face and had to flip back through the book to check just what I'd read on the last couple of pages - a genius moment in storytelling.

It would get a 5 but I felt the ending chapters somewhat rushed, but I can certainly say I'm an avid Necroscope fan now and I'm currently waiting for the second book to arrive in the post...