Review based on an advance review copy of the book:
The Egyptian Elixir is a rollicking good time, filled with snappy dialog, bone-crunching action, and a swift moving plot. Grissom is an appropriately moody, dark figure with a good heart while snarky, arrogant Van Helsing is just a delight to read. The story weaves through London and the outlining towns, and is filled with darkened alleys, elegant homes, codes, secret societies, and everything that makes old-fashioned horror/adventure fun. This is "Penny Dreadful" for those who want to scale back the gruesome elements and include more fun. Recommended.
Finished reading “The Egyptian Elixir: The Unofficial Chronicles of John Grissom” Book 2” by Page Zaplendam. I had the opportunity and privilege to read this book before its release date. I loved this newest addition to the John Grissom Series. It is a Gothic Regency Vampyre story that continues with the adventures of John Grissom and Van Helsing in 1800’s England. We are introduced to some new characters but all the original characters are still a part of the book. This was a shorter read than the first book, but was still packed with a lot of suspense and story. The story flowed nicely and the characters are well developed and continue to evolve. With a third book in the works “The Hellhound of Derbyshire” I can only imagine where Page will take us next on this fantastic journey.
Synopsis (from back cover): What could possibly go wrong on a surveillance trip to Parliament? Apparently everything.
When John Grissom and Van Helsing find themselves witnesses to an assassination attempt on the Marquis of Wellesley, they discover London’s most notorious purveyor of stolen good at the bottom of it. But his ability to influence people is odd to say the least. The vampire and the hunter investigate, but the Egyptian elixir may prove the undoing of them both.