Department 19 by Will Hill

 Title: Department 19

                                                                 Author: Will Hill

                                                                 Pages: 540

                                                                 Published: March 31st 2011, by Razorbill

                                                                 Series: Department 19 book #1

                                                                 Genre: YA, Adventure

                                                                 Stars: 4/5

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.

Department 19 is not your average book. I mean first of all it has Frankenstein, Dracula and Van Helsing (yes all of the actual book characters.....its just they are most certainly real in this book).

Long review short, I was surprised to see how well I really liked the book. At first it was a bit dry and dull (I'm not going to lie) but it soon picked up once Alexandru (one of the oldest vampires made by Dracula) entered the picture.

I'm not going to write a rundown review of everything that happened because basically you'll be here all day.

So I'm just going to say the parts I liked.

I really liked Jamie. He smacked himself out of feeling sorry for himself and actually went out and did something. His brave step in finding his mother and attempting to try and kill Alexandru (who by the way is a total psycho!) was admirable. However, I didn't like the fact that he thought he was boss once he entered Department 19 and knew about his father's secret life. His personality COMPLETELY changed.  He seemed to think he was top dog, the big deal and it annoyed me in some aspects. I understand he wants to find his mum but he can find his mum without all this bravado.

I really enjoyed the whole plot twist and story line.  It was a refreshingly original idea. It was action packed from beginning to end and even though I could tell who was the betrayer in their squad from the beginning it was a shock to me to find out why that person did it in the first place.

What I also enjoyed was how slowly by slowly Jamie was building his little team. Him, Frankenstein, Larissa, new girl Kate and I’m presuming Matt (who will make a bigger appearance in the second book). It’s a team full of young people....well aside from Frank.

Of course, the series hasn’t finished as Jamie still needs to deal with Alexandru two other even more vicious brothers and the biggest villain of them all..........

 I thoroughly enjoyed  the book, so props to you Mr Hill! 

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