Rating: 
Summary: Good Reading - if you are into the series
Review: I think that this book is good as relative to the series. I started thinking about series of books and the average consumer. Maybe it is dragging on a little far. I really enjoy vampire books and good heroes. This book has both these qualities. If you wanted to start with this book DON'T!! Start at book #1: Necroscope.
Rating:
Summary: Don't limit yourself to just this book...GET THE WHOLE SERIE
Review: I have read 12 of the 13 novels in this series, and I will review the series as a whole here. The first book, to me, started off slow, like it was building up for something, and how it did. Most books climax then peter out and the story is done, not here. The second book picks up right where this one leaves off, still at this one's climactic level and gains even more strength. The climax surpasses the first one by far, then we get book 3. It starts off slower than two but rapidly picks up the pace, outshining book two's crescendo with ease. And then what? Book 4. Book 4 continues to build on the characters and hits an all time high, the peak being (in my opinion) the peak of the series. Then book 5. Book 5 finds our hero in a predicament. The ending worried me a lot, and I wouldn't buy another Lumley novel for some time. I'm glad I eventually did!!! The following books fail to gain the momentum of the first five, but are VERY fine reads. In my opinion, Lumley has surpassed King, Koontz, and Rice easily with even the least of these novels.
Rating:
Summary: A must for vampire lovers
Review: This is the first book in the Necroscope series and a must read for all you vampire fans. Lumley definitely has some different ideas on the whole vampire story. If you only read one vampire story this is the one to read. I bet you go out and buy the rest of the series, which you won't be disappointed by. Definitely the ultimate vampire series!
Rating:
Summary: First of only three good books in the series.
Review: People need to know some things about Brian Lumley's writing in general, and this series in particular.My firm belief is that the idea had gone as far as it should have with the first three books. Of the subsequent novels, there's perhaps two good novels of material spread over about six books, more or less. My advice is to get the first three, and then buy used copies of any others. After awhile, Lumley's egregious use of exclamation points wears on a reader. And, honestly, the ideas are better than his execution at times. However, the *ideas* are incredibly good, and really, the first three books are excellent diversions and good reads. Not strictly "horror"- this isn't scary like Salem's Lot is scary- but if you made the first book into a movie, you'd probably have a box office hit grossing $100 million.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice Continuation
Review: This book does a great job bringing in new Lumley readers into the series without requiring them to know anything about the books that came before it. Unfortunately for avid Lumley readers, it is a slow read. The book spends a little too much time going over past events, and thus doesn't move forward until "Defilers". It was for this reason alone that I bumped my rating down to 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Lumley at his best
Review: Brian Lumley is a wildly uneven writer, but when he's at the top of his form, he's extradordinarily entertaining. NECROSCOPE and its sequels are most likely what will constitute his literary reputation, not the gawdawful Lovecraft pastiches (or, more properly, Derlethian pastiches) and the even worse pseudo-Robert E. Howard stuff set in HPL's Dreamlands. I won't discuss the plot (plenty of other reviewers have covered that), so I'll restrict my remarks to a few of the high points. The Necroscope vs. Necromancer angle was fresh and innovative, allowing the dead to take a part in their own story (they also take their enemies apart while losing some of their own body parts, but that's enough lousy puns for one review). Lumley's vampires are fascinating, developed throughout the series. I won't give away any secrets; all I can do is urge you to read the entire series to gain the full effect of his vampire mythology (as well as following the further exploits of some highly interesting characters). And the central conflict --- Harry Keogh (anybody have an idea of how Harry's surname should be pronounced? Koag? Kayg? Keeg? Kee-ogg? I admit I'm pretty ignorant here) vs. the Faustian Dragosani provides enough fireworks to carry the reader through this long (but never dull) novel. Harry has to dig up some of his own buried evil to fight the Necromancer, an ironic twist given his fate in the sequels (read them and see!) And his fate is echoed and amplified as Boris D. deals with the long-buried Thibor Ferenczy and allows his own soul to be blackened past all human comparisons. Great stuff, Mr. Lumley! In short there's something here for everybody: horror story, love story, espionage thriller, metaphysical treatise, all wrapped up in a rattling good adventure yarn.
Rating:
Summary: "Death is my friend. He tells me everything."
Review: Necroscope is the amazing beginning to a fantastic Horror novel series that introduces one of Horror fiction's most entertaining and interesting characters. Harry Keogh, the Necroscope, blessed or cursed with the ability to speak with the Dead. And while the living are many, the dead are more; for in Brian Lumley's epic vision there is no Heaven or Hell but an eternal limbo where the mind/soul live on. A purgatory to put any Catholic to shame. Necroscope gives the reader Harry Keogh's background (a very interesting childhood, to say the least) and explains that the world is filled with people who have psychic abilities in varied potency. And, there are Vampires. Vampires that are much more than we could have ever imagined... This novel focuses mainly on how Harry comes to realize and then master his power on the side of good, and how on the side of evil (Vampires/Soviets) a dark agent hones his skills as a Necromancer(he very gruesomely tortures the dead for information) Most importantly this novel leaves no question that the story and subsequent adventures of Harry Keogh, Necroscope will continue, and that is a promise that Brian Lumley has obviously fulfilled. Necroscope is an amazing beginning to one of the best Horror series ever and makes continued reading of the Necroscope books not only desirable but necessary for the reader who has read this Horror masterpiece. "One must never curse the dead, I suppose, for they have nothing to lose."
Rating:
Summary: Great twist on the vampire mythos! A good read!
Review: 'Necroscope' was a series that I had been eyeing for a while. Congrats to whoever did the creepy skull cover-art, it really did the advertising trick. But the first book in the series is far from just a cool cover. It's an excellent story with some good main characters and a surprisingly deep scientific undertone for a horror novel. The Necroscope is someone who can literally talk to the dead, learn the knowledge that they took to the grave and use it for their own purposes. The book's main characters are both Necroscopes. There's Dragosani, the Romanian secret agent who's working for a Russian agency which trains it's soldiers in the supernatural. Then there's Harry Keogh, a young boy who develops the talent naturally and becomes entangled in Dragosani's plot. Tying their destiny together is an ancient vampiric being trapped in the Transylvanian ground, who's powers for evil are unimaginable. The plot in 'Necroscope' is indeed an interesting one. I found the idea of international supernatural espionage (or ESPionage) extremely fascinating and is really done well. The opening sequences were Dragosani's bosses witness his talent for the first time was truly gripping. And the characters were well thought out and developed. Each one's motivations are clearly laid out and we're given an inside look into each one's lives. 'Necroscope' is also a rejuvinating shot to the vampire genre. Lumley reworks the legends well, keeping to its classic nature but giving the mythos a refreshing twist as well. (to read an extremely awful vampire series try Christopher Golden's 'Shadow' series. Simply awful) The only problem I had was the Mobius Continuum device that Lumley uses. It was a concept that came in near the end of the book and I thought felt out of place. It gave the book an unneeded metaphysical angle and seemed tacked on. I haven't read the other books, and I see it's a concept used again, so I'll have to continue the series to develop my feelings further about it. All in all a very good book, a promising start to a classic series I am excited to be starting.
Rating:
Summary: The Necroscope
Review: This is one of the best horror books that I've ever read. When I was reading the book it would make me hear things a night when I would go to bed. It would even give me goose bumps while I was reading it. This is the first book I found that was able to do that to me. The main character in the story Harry Keogh is a man that can talk to the dead. While he talks to the dead, he finds out that there is a horrible plague is on the earth, they were telling him about the wampier's that were feeding off the human race. Also in the story there's a man named Boris Dragosani that could talk to the dead also but he uses that power to take the secrets away from the dead. In this book it is a fight to the death with the dead included in the fight.
Rating:
Summary: So good I read it twice!
Review: I first read this book back in 1990 - it blew me away! Vampires used to be scary and horrible, but Hollywood softened them, made them funny & stereotypical. This book kicks off a series of vampire books the way they should be written - vampires are bad news! Forget the fancy, pretty vampires fraught with conscience you might hear about from other authors. Necroscope will bring you back to the days of really cheering for the good guys, because you want the human race to survive! Since reading this book, I've read every one of the vampire books to follow, and some of the Maze books as well. Great author! Use your brain as well as your imagination!
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