Dreadful Company

By: Vivian Shaw

Narrated by: Suzannah Hampton

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.

Praise for the Dr. Greta Helsing Novels:

"An exceptional and delightful debut, in the tradition of Good Omens and A Night in the Lonesome October."―Elizabeth Bear, Hugo-award winning author

"Shaw balances an agile mystery with a pitch-perfect, droll narrative and cast of lovable misfit characters. These are not your mother's Dracula or demons."―Shelf Awareness

Dr. Greta Helsing Novels
Strange Practice
Dreadful Company
Grave Importance

Critic reviews

"A playfully witty confection spun from the setting of The Phantom of the Opera, sardonic yet a touch sweet, in which the elegant vampires of Helsing's social set come up against an undisciplined coven of sparkly, eyeliner-loving youngsters.... Moves smoothly between the ongoing stories of her returning characters and the immediate plot, and between pop culture references and innovation, framing London's supernatural residents as delightfully normative while still capably evoking the frisson of the uncanny."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Dreadful Company

"Shaw's elegant writing make this series a standout in the genre."—Booklist on Dreadful Company

"I absolutely loved it.... Dreadful Company is a triumph."—SFFWorld

"There are as few heroines as well written and compelling as Greta Helsing."—BookPage on Dreadful Company

"Fast-moving, funny, and irresistibly fun."—B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog on Dreadful Company

"A grand romp, mixing plenty of humor (even Oscar Wilde chimes in) and some heartwarming moments amid the chills."—Locus on Dreadful Company

"In Vivian Shaw's Strange Practice, a charmingly unusual doctor and her charges keep the city of London from grave danger. In the process, they peel back the covers of familiar (and according to them, somewhat "libelous") stories to find that reality - especially with the undead - is more poignant and complex than it seems at first glance. An excellent adventure."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Fran Wilde, award-winning author of Updraft, Cloudbound, and Horizon, on Strange Practice

"Strange Practice is written with elegance, wit, and compassion. The prose is gorgeous, the wit is mordant, and the ideas are provocative. Also, there are ghouls."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}Laura Amy Schlitz, Newbery Medal winner, on Strange Practice

"A satisfying and surprising read, with rich imagery, nuance, and real compassion for its characters--give Strange Practice a shot!"—Elliott James, author of Charming, on Strange Practice

"A darkly delicious adventure featuring a quirky new heroine. Strange Practice breathes new life into the undead."—James Bennett, author of Chasing Embers, on Strange Practice

"An exceptional and delightful debut, in the tradition of Good Omens and A Night in the Lonesome October."—Elizabeth Bear, Hugo-award winning author, on Strange Practice

Really enjoy this series.

I work in the medical field and the I enjoy following Dr. Helsings character. It is believable and fun. I love the mixture of fantasy and magic mixed with logic. The characters are enjoyable and overall just pleasant listen to, You don't have to read the first book in the series to enjoy this one, but It will give you some background and insight to the characters.

MIXED FEEINGS!

Good writer. Narrator is great, however, she oddly pronounces the character name 'Fastitocalon' differently than in the first installment, "Strange Practice."

My overall opinion of BOTH installments ("Strange...," & "Dreadful...") aligns with that of an NPR Review of the first book:

"The story of Strange Practice— the actual plodding footsteps of the plot — is wholly secondary to the joys of
hanging out with Shaw's characters. Her true gift as a writer is not for the action, but for the quiet moments before.
It's not for the Eureka! conclusion, but for the shuffling papers, long nights and hundred cups of tea that precede
it..."

In essence, while the conclusion of "Dreadful..." was rewarding, the actual "plodding through of the plot" was even less enjoyable than in Book 1, due to the continual-absent interactions of this "family of characters," as introduced in "Strange..." where the reader is, in fact, deprived of the joy of these character interactions until "Dreadful's..." final chapters. As stand-alone figures, none of the characters (including Heilsing) are abundantly interesting. However, as a "family of odd-balls" who unconditionally accept each other, include each other, and interact with each other, without nastiness, harsh criticism, nor judgement --- in spite of each one's idiosyncrasies --- THIS makes for heart-warming story-telling related to character interactions. The absence of one of the initial "fab four" (Cranswell), besides Greta, introduced in Book 1, is also sorely noted. The new "family members" (little well-monsters, hairy creatures, and "Winston," included), are a joy, and welcomed additions.

Several implicit writing choices, (where character nuances are 'implied,' rather than stated, out-rightly), distract from, rather than add to the story's intrigue. For instance, the slang phrase "vada di omi palone" (see the homosexual man) is spoken in Chapter 1, "suggesting" the sexuality of one, if not two of the characters. Other references support these same ideas, and still, the characters' sexuality are never explicitly stated. Conversely, the nature of a set of female characters' relationship, (indicating sexual preference) is described, explicitly. Another implicit choice is that one character is described as having dread-locked hair, and dark skin, yet the writer never explicitly clarifies that the character is a Black person. The back story of a few of the characters also remained "mysterious.." hinted at, and/or referenced, repeatedly yet, never completely explained in full--- choices that are irritating, and therefore, distract from the story's listening pleasure.

Irritants aside, however, a read of the 3rd installment, "Grave Importance" is definite. The author has effectively etched this "family" of lovable-quirky characters into our hearts; therefore, the follow-up read is a must.

Loving this series

One of those books where you can't wait to hear what happens next. You want to find out the end, but you don't want it to end.

Another Great story

I enjoy this author's stories very much. I liked the first one somewhat more that this one, probably because it was new to me. I still recommend this one and hope there will be more.

rogue vampires

narrator was very entertaining. I enjoy this story, it's a totally different look at the demon life the vampire life and all the little creatures, that are thought as monsters but are just different. I'd give this book an A