Changes

Unavoidably, in a series set up, the main narrative arcs - the kidnapping of Jamie's mother and a plan to reanimate Count Dracula himself - lose a little focus at times because there's quite a bit of exposition to get out of the way. Hill deals with this by a series of flashback sequences, which reveal the history of Department 19 and Jamie's family's role within it. This means the book is best suited to fans of the genre and readers who are happy to spend the best part of five hundred pages of reading time investing into a series. For them, Department 19 is going to be a huge hit. Of that I am sure.

My thanks to the good people at Harper Collins for sending the book.

They might also like [[Changeling by Steve Feasey]], about Trey, the last living werewolf. It's pacy and direct and the central character is wolfishly attractive. No supernatural, but [[Brainjack by Brian Falkner]] is a pacy action thriller about a teen computer hacker and a rather scary, self-aware AI. If they liked the gadgetry in ''Department 19'', they'll like it.