Department 19 by Will Hill

Department 19 by Will Hill
Department Nineteen #1
Release Date: March 1, 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rating: Enjoyable

Jamie Carpenter's life will never be the same. His father is dead, his mother is missing, and he was just rescued by an enormous man named Frankenstein. Jamie is brought to Department 19, where he is pulled into a secret organization responsible for policing the supernatural, founded more than a century ago by Abraham Van Helsing and the other survivors of Dracula. Aided by Frankenstein's monster, a beautiful vampire girl with her own agenda, and the members of the agency, Jamie must attempt to save his mother from a terrifyingly powerful vampire.

Department 19 takes us through history, across Europe, and beyond - from the cobbled streets of Victorian London to prohibition-era New York, from the icy wastes of Arctic Russia to the treacherous mountains of Transylvania. Part modern thriller, part classic horror, it's packed with mystery, mayhem, and a level of suspense that makes a Darren Shan novel look like a romantic comedy.  - Goodreads

This book wasn't entirely what I was expecting. I was looking forward to an Alex Rider type novel with vampires, but this was completely different. It is a HUGE book, and is very intimidating. As a result, it took me a while to read it due to the size, and it also took me a while to get into because I kept stopping and starting.

While I feel that things were just a bit too easy for the protagonist (can we see Jamie struggle a bit more, please?), I did really liked him, especially towards the end. My favourite character has to be the antagonist, who has kidnapped Jamie's mother and is planning on killing Jamie too.

The other vampires in this novel were also - mostly - awesome. I love that while there were some good ones, they didn't come across as boring, teddy bear types. They were still pretty scary!

Some of the flashbacks were a bit off putting, as they often felt out of place between two present day chapters. However, I do love the insight that the flashbacks gave us into several characters and into the history of the vampires and the Department.

Overall, while this lagged a bit, it was still a fun read with an awesome antagonist. I'm definitely going to be reading the sequel because I want to know what happens to the characters that I loved (like Frankenstein!)