Review: Dreadful Company (A Dr. Greta Helsing # 2) by Vivian Shaw

SiriusB+ Reviews / Book Reviewsromantic-elements / Urban-Fantasy / vampires1 Comments

A witty, charming fantasy adventure starring Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, whose family has been keeping the supernatural community not-alive and well for generations.

When Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, is unexpectedly called to Paris to present at a medical conference, she expects nothing more exciting than professional discourse on zombie reconstructive surgery and skin disease in bogeymen?and hopefully at least one uneventful night at the Opera.

Unfortunately for Greta, Paris happens to be infested with a coven of vampires — and not the civilized kind. If she hopes to survive, Greta must navigate the darkest corners of the City of Lights, the maze of ancient catacombs and mine-tunnels underneath the streets, where there is more to find than simply dead men’s bones.

Review:

Dear Vivian Shaw,

I liked this book just as much as I liked the first book in the trilogy, but it is very hard to discuss it without spoilers since the blurb is once again vague.  As the blurb tells you, Greta goes to Paris to participate in a medical conference of medical practitioners for the supernatural community.  Unfortunately during that conference Greta gets herself (through no fault of her own!) into a situation she may need help to get extricated from. No, she does not become a princess needing to be rescued as some reviews that I have read claimed, because despite her two friendly vampire friends going to the rescue, she eventually manages to save herself which I found very admirable.

I actually appreciate that part of Greta’s character where she knows her limitations (same as in the first book). She insists on playing an important part in dealing with the book’s villains, but she does not insist on doing the actual battle, because she is a doctor, not a *warrior*. She is a very resourceful and brave woman, and as I said I think she helped in the final resolution here in an important way, but her job is not take lives, her job is to save them.

The city of Paris itself seems to be an important part of the story here; I thought the setting was very vividly described. I was amused that the catacombs were presumably as real as Phantom of the Opera shows, but I actually have not been to Paris yet, so I cannot say how realistically the City and the catacombs were portrayed, I just think it was nicely done.

I do enjoy a romantic overtures Greta is getting from one of her friends and I just find it touching, although it is not explicit at all. I said in my review of the first book that these series are urban fantasy, but even in the first book a romance has started already and there is a m/m romance on the side as well. I thought it was nicely done. I think these books will be one of may comfort rereads from now on, which is not what I expected to think of the stories so full of supernatural beings which were engaged in some violence, too.

Again, please check out other reviews, but for me these books so far have been very enjoyable and this book was no exception. B+

AmazonBNKoboBook DepositoryGoogle

Related