beishir

This was a very poor attempt to flesh out the story of Van Helsing. A little more research could have gone a very long way. In fact, late in the book in one of the footnotes, the author speaks of his "shoddy scholarship" in regards to a particular issue. Unfortunately, "shoddy scholarship" was a theme that ran the length of this offering.

The author's understanding of Middle Eastern customs and cuisine were apparently derived from eating at a Mediterranean buffet. His knowledge of Middle Eastern geography was derived from reading the newspapers of 2004 (publication date). (Tikrit and Mosul ring a bell?)

I understand it was meant to be a journal and as such summaries of events could be expected. The entire story set forth by Bram Stoker was summarized in two paragraphs. I guess the author figures he had nothing of interest to add and had better leave that story to a far better author than himself. On this point, I agree with the author.

There were several instances in the book where the author skipped occurrences that, with a little more research, the author could have added color and flavor to his book. Instead, he just took a shortcut and explained away his omissions.

I think I have put more time and effort in this review than the author took in writing his book. So, I'll just wrap it up...

I really wanted this to be a good book and it really wasn't. Don't waste your time on this one.