Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best!
Review: A wonderfuly original, frightening novel of horror. The main character, Harry Keogh, speaks with the dead. Imagine the multitudes of the dead speaking to you constantly as a child and throughout your growing years to your adult life, driving you mad with their requests and demands. Imagine a man who is so precious to those beyond the grave, that they will willingly rise from their eternal slumber to kill anyone who endangers him. Imagine a man who has access to almost limitless knowledge, who can bend space with his mind, to apear anywhere and anywhen he wishes! And this is the good guy. That alone should get your pulse pounding, (and if it doesn't perhaps your dead yourself). Now add on top of that a thrilling spy novel of cold-war intrigue and Bond-esque gadgetry, a sleeping but unquiet Vampyre who is no less dangerous now that he is dead, and a depraved Soviet psychic who can torture the ghosts of the deceased, who stands to inherit the mantle of the Undead. This is one of Lumley's finest novels, and one of the greatest works in horror fiction. It is very brittish, (nothing wrong with that) and it crosses many genres while never forgetting its roots in horror. This book spawned a huge series of books, but this one is by far the best. You'll never think about vampires again the same way.
Rating:
Summary: Better almost 15 years later!
Review: I'm not a huge fan of Horror, with this series being one of the most important exceptions. Back in the 80's, a friend of mine turned me on to Necroscope, just after it had gone paperback. I loved it, and faithfully read everyone until the mid 90's. After marrying, I simplified my life, and one of the ways was to get rid of many of the books I hadn't read in years. I gave them to my brother in law.In talking with a friend at work, I got to thinking about this series again, and recently borrowed my books back from Bro. Simply put, I had forgotten how fun, enjoyable, and just plain great to read these books are. Sure, there are problems with the books, but this one, which started it all, is great. It's not even my favorite! Lumley's taking of the old vampire myth and 'updating' it to make them a fearsome symbiotic creature, while explaining many of the powers of vampires, is sheer brillance in it's simplicity. To put it another way: why didn't I think of this!! This is a great book that's tense, well-developed, and a great, great read. And, 15 years later, you might just like it even more!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Great ideas, dull writing
Review: "Necroscope" is the first in a long series of novels about vampires that Lumley names the 'Wamphyri', and about Harry Keogh, who is a 'necroscope', a man who talk with the dead and take on their knowledge and skills. Sadly, Lumley has better ideas than writing skills. The book reads like Lumley wrote it out once and never went back and edited a word. It's a 500 page novel that would have been a lot better at 300 pages. We are led through long episodes in the characters' lives that have nothing to do with the main action, aren't especially interesting, and should have been condensed to a few lines. At the same time, exciting and critically important moments are thrust on the reader without any lead-in, and feel rushed and incomplete. Large amounts of information and plot are conveyed not by the characters' direct experience, but by one character telling a story to another. Point of view is unstable, and wobbles from third person limited, to third person omniscient, and back again. The prose is flat and lifeless, cliches are frequent, and all the characters talk alike, whether they are English schoolmasters or Romanian peasants. There are no delights for the senses or for the ear, just the story and the characters plodding along, and you keep reading to find out what happens next, not because you're enjoying experience of reading, which you definitely aren't. Which is a shame, because for all that he's a poor writer, Lumley has great ideas, and has developed material that should make for a cracking good novel. Necroscope weaves traditional Transylvanian vampires together with Cold War politics, the KGB, and figures in modern Russian history like Brezhnev and Andropov, secret agents and secret societies, teenage and coming-of-age angst, and Lumley's own unique and evocative concept of the 'necroscope'. He seems to have done a good bit of background research and to be knowledgeable about Romania and Transylvania, where much of the action takes place. His main characters, Harry Keogh and the young Russian necromancer, Dragosani, are interesting and have lots of potential. It's a shame this novel isn't better than it is, and the blame lies right on Lumley's dreary writing.
Rating:
Summary: Delicious description marks this book as a fine read
Review: Brian Lumley is an amazing author. He writes stories that wrap around ones throat and pulls one right into his world. Because he keeps his characters well-grounded in reality, it makes the preternatural villans all the more vivid. I recommend the entire series of books. They'll make your skin crawl and isn't that what everyone is looking for in a good book?
Rating: 
Summary: Good Start to a Series
Review: Necroscope is something that I've always wanted to read. Just the idea of combining Vampires and spies is brilliant. My one complaint is that this book seemed to focus a little too much on the villian of the piece. I geuss the Mr. Lumley has the rest of the books in the series to focus on Harry. All in all I am looking forward to reading more of the Necroscope series.
Rating:
Summary: Best darned horror work ever
Review: Despite being of the mind that horror stories are only good once, I have reread this book more times than I can number. Along with the classic eliments of all good horror books, Necroscope adds amazing insight into his theory of the wamphyri. That, coupled with the idea of the necroscope, make for a stay-up untill-3AM-reading experience. Lumley, like all good fiction writers, combines possible plots for about three different stories and combines them into one amazing thriller.
Rating:
Summary: sitting on the fence for this one...
Review: From the admittedly few works of Lumley's that i have read (A Coven of Vampires; this book, of course; and am currently in the process of reading Necroscope II), i've pretty much come to the conclusion that Lumley is not a very good writer. The concept for this book is a rather good one, though, some how managing to combine ESP and "ESPionage", the Cold War, spiritualism and vampires, among other things, but its prose rather lets it down. That is of course, not to say that they are not enjoyable reads, regardless, and his take on the vampire myth, or "Wamphyri", as he calls them, is probably the most original ever concieved (even if it does draw heavy inspiration from H. P. Lovecraft's "Cthulhu mythos". Undecided on whether you should by this book or not, as I read a library copy, but I think you'll either like/love it or hate it in the end, but give it a shot to find out.
Rating:
Summary: Get this book!!! NOW!
Review: That's all I have to really say, this book is great! I love Vampire novels, read a lot of Anne Rice and picked this book up in hopes that I would get hooked on another Vamp series, since Anne has become more of a disappointment. The cover art really caught my eye and the good things I've heard about it really made me take a chance. I'm glad I did!!I must admit I was thrown off a bit by the first few pages even with the great description of the necromancer at work (I love gore), I wasn't grossed out but because I didn't think I liked the whole military likeness of it, I was almost tempted to take it back to the store. I'm glad I didn't! Just a tad bit more pages ahead and I was hooked! I couldn't put it down for anything. Brian Lumely is a great writer. The characters had style and depth, even Thibor and Dragosani. I loved Harry and I loved how he handled his talents. It makes me believe that there maybe secret organizations like the ones in the book. What can I say but pick it up for yourself! right now I'm going to find the second book in the series and purchase it! I hate that I didn't take a chance with it earlier. GET THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: I love Necroscope
Review: I'm not sure where to begin praising the Necroscope series. Let me try to break things down scientifically... 1. Brian Lumley's writing style is... unique. He truly shines during this series, but... buyer beware. He has a quirky style to say the least. Don't look for characters who mirror real-life. They don't. Don't look for his "pseudo-science" to make too much sense... it doesn't. But the rewards far outweigh any suspension of disbelief you'll have to excercise. DO look for quality, suspense filled writing that builds and builds until it hits the boiling point! DO look for some of the most inventive and original use of "blood-and-guts" ever to be put on paper, and somehow he manages to keep the descriptions eloquent and elegant. 2. These books contain, without question, the greatest vampire literature in the history of mankind. This is not a joke, nor is it blind worship of the author. Lumley's vampires are leaps and bounds above any other vampire characterizations you will ever find, period. 3. Lumley's use of stories-within-stories is also top notch. He is the only author I know (with the possible exception of older King) who can tell a very long and detailed history of a character or plotline (for hundreds of pages sometimes!) without losing his readers or becoming boring. You WANT to know what happened way back when, and when Lumley is finished, you crave more! 4. Lumley seems to be a bit of an enigma. I've read other works; The House of Doors (terrible), Psychomech (even worse), and Demogorgon (passable, I think, but I don't remember it AT ALL!). I have never come across an author who is sooo good at one particular brand of story or series, yet falls flat with everything else. Anything else I say here would probably ruin the plots, so I will quit now. Buy this series.
Rating:
Summary: Gives You Something To Think About!
Review: I have never been a big reader and i came across this book simply by the cover design which in itself is pretty amazing. I thought i would give this book a try and see if it would hold my interest as good as the cover grabbed me. All i can say is that it sure did. The characters are characters who you simply can become attached to and know inside and out with some shady aspects that keep you guessing. Though at times you know the up coming material Lumley writes it so that you cant wait to see the confrontation between the characters emotionally as well as phsyically. This book is without a doubt the best book i have read and could not put it down. The interconnecting plot lines which at times makes you wonder why on earth hes telling you this suprises you when your least expecting it. If your looking for an awesome look at the greedy backstabbing world of vampires, government and the characters themselves pick this book up you will not be dissappointed!!!!!!!!
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