Hunting Prince Dracula

By: Kerri Maniscalco

Narrated by: Nicola Barber

Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this hotly anticipated sequel to the haunting number one best seller Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer...or has the depraved prince been brought back to life?

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper's true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe's best schools of forensic medicine...and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life's dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school's forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 Kerry Maniscalco (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

"Audrey is a young woman eager to use her brains and willing to flaunt society's rules.... This mystery pays homage to classics like Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein [and] will satisfy those readers looking for historical mystery, a witty heroine, and a little romance." ( School Library Connection)

Very good

I truly enjoyed the banter between the two main characters. They had a believable relationship, and the author let it develop naturally. It didn’t feel rushed or forced. The story line was capturing and I liked how it flowed. I would recommend.

Loved this book it was better than the 1st

Can’t wait for their next adventure and hope for more to follow! Just like the 1st ur guessing till the end! This one and the 1st book are going in to the reread folder!

Not quite there

I love the plot!!! And I love these books....however, there were more holes in this plot line than in the first one.

If it’s a school academy, then wouldn’t there be previous classes (like other grade levels)?? Audrey Rose’s uncle seems to have more students and apprentices, and he doesn’t run an academy.
Also, it seemed that all the instructors were completely emotionless. I get the whole “they have to come off creepy” thing, but if Snape could show emotion in Harry Potter, then you would think that the headmaster could show more emotion when his niece dies.
There were a few other slight plot holes that I found, but I was also disappointed with the fact that Audrey Rose seemed to have much less common sense in this story as well. It wasn’t extreme, but several times I got very frustrated when she would take much longer than necessary to figure out small things.

Hopefully Book 3 will be better now that Audrey Rose has finally gotten over her continuous bouts of ptsd from the first book. We will see!

Didn't enjoy quite as much as the first one

I remember enjoying the first book more. I think this one was more focused on romance. There was a lot of her thinking that Thomas was trying to control her, she didn't want to be controlled, classmates/teachers not taking her seriously, did she love him, did he love her, etc. But was an ok book to read, especially around Halloween time. The description of the castle, secret passages, tunnels, etc were good.

Disappointed

The performance of this audiobook was excellent. The narrator does a fantastic job. Unfortunately, the story itself is just too boring for me. I read the first book and was disappointed and had hoped listening to the audiobook would bring the story more to life for this one, but for me, that’s not what happened.

Didn't love as much as the first book

This second story in the Jack the Ripper series didn't hold my attention as much as the first one did. The mystery was still as gripping, I had no idea who the killer was until revealed, however there was just something about it that didn't do it for me. The best parts for me were getting to know Thomas's family and history, as well as the continuation of the relationship between the two main characters towards the end of the book. While this one wasn't a favorite, I can't wait to continue the rest of the series to see where things go!

Couldn't make it passed the first few chapters

I thought this would be a fun listen for Halloween, but there were so many lengthy descriptions and references to the previous book that I kept losing the thread of the story.

I returned it. :-/

The Hunt Is Too Long

Like the way she puts folklore together with forensics but the storyline tends to bore me and takes too long to get to the point. But it’s well written and fascinating.

Another Adventure...

Hunting Prince Dracula is : Enchanting, thrilling, mysterious, breath taking, funny, teasing, seductive, frightening, brave, full of surprises... What more can you ask for?
Highly recommend this.
Can’t wait to read the next book into this serie.

Something sinister

This was a very good book and I enjoyed listening to it. It had blood and bones and spooky tones. At first I wasn't sure where it would go but by the end I was all in.

Give me the next audiobook now!

✮ My Review ✮
Audrey’s back, back again! This time we are hunting Prince Dracula dun dun dun. Hmm, how do I start this review? Talking about how refreshing it was with this new twist on Dracula? About how we pick up the story weeks after the ending of Stalking Jack the Ripper? How much I am in love with Thomas Cresswell? How amazing Nicola Barber still is at narrating this book? All this and so much!!!

The more I am invested in this series the more I love Audrey Rose and Thomas! Nicola is yet again absolutely amazing at bringing these two epic characters by Kerri alive with her narration. I still can’t believe when listening to this that it is just one person doing it!

Following on merely weeks after the horrific events of Stalking Jack the Ripper, we meet up with Thomas and Audrey Rose, with their chaperone en route to Transylvania! I was so excited when I knew this was our destination and I was so intrigued to see where we would be taken on this journey! Would I be disappointed? No siree!

What I always seem to forget with Hunting Prince Dracula is not the fact that is set in 1888 and so times were different for women and the interest in death was not proper for women. No, it was more that Audrey is only 17!!!! Yes, that is right 17! I completely forget and I think when Audrey is not pining/hating for Thomas she forgets! She has seen and done a lot more than a lot privileged 17-year-olds for sure!

I loved the journey we were taken on and the urban legend himself Dracula. There were so many twists and turns and so many people to suspect of the killings. Set in the cold winter, it was perfect as we play detective in a whodunnit scenario. I will have to say one thing I really DID NOT appreciate were the blinking SPIDERS! Seriously did there need to be so many of them and did they have to be so bloody big *shudders*. Sometimes when you listen to audiobooks they let you down as you can not skip bits especially when you are driving and your skin is crawling, ick.

The castle itself was a living breathing entity. Listening to the story unfurl, I could imagine the dark corridors, with flickering candlelight. The dampness and the cold from the snow outside, with the cackles of the fires as the only source of warmth. The setting emphasised how cut off from the world and everyone they were, so when the murders started well there was nowhere to run to.

I love the introduction of the new characters and I loved seeing Audrey come into her, especially at the end. And the chemistry between her and Thomas was just sizzling. Two people who love each other so much but won’t admit it! Normally I would be bored of the will they won’t they situation, but the banter between them and the respect keeps it going and you just can’t help falling in love with them.

I also loved the little nod in this book to the next one in the series Escaping Houdini – cleverly done!
Despite all the darkness and evil doing, this Hunting Prince Dracula will leave a smile on your face as you know the next adventure is on its way

Dark and twisty fantasy

Having loved Stalking Jack the Ripper, I was really excited to read this book and see how it followed on from book one. It follows Audrey Rose and Thomas to Romania, where murder victims turn up with suspiciously vampiric wounds. It's a great sequel, with all the period romance and macabre fun of the first book, with a new gripping plot. I can't wait for Escaping from Houdini!

So Enjoyable!

I loved the narration as always. I find myself getting into the story so easily. The story didn't hook me exactly like Stalking Jack The Ripper did but was still such a fun read. I really recommend.

Perfect mix

Perfect mix of romance, horror and adventure!

Drawn in from the first chapter like I did with the 1st book. I was low key upset that it ended!

My love for Audrey and Thomas grow in every chapter. I love seeing their relationship develop in between the gore and death.

This has been my favourite book so far of the series and look forward to reading the rest but I know this will be my favourite book out of them all!

I love there’s a bit of romance weaved in even if it’s low key, it breaks up the death and gore.

Everyone needs a Thomas! Even I’m falling in love with him - I won’t be happy untill I find my Thomas!

Need 31st August to hurry up so I can get the next book!!

Thoroughly enjoyable

loved it. fantastic sequel laugh out loud funny in parts, and edge of seat gripping in others


bring on book 3

Fantastic story

Kerri Maniscalco has you hooked from the very first sentence to the last. Highly recommend

romanian language

As a romanian girl , it was a struggle to understand some parts when the narrator was speaking in romanian and it makes me a little mad but in the rest it was amazing.

The Book I Never Knew I Needed

"Monsters are only as real as the stories that grant them life. And they only live for as long as we tell those tales."


Hunting Prince Dracula took a bunch of things I LOVE and became the gothic novel of my dreams. I read Stalking Jack the Ripper way back when I was an active blogger with an active following. I'd received an ARC and later on purchased the audiobook. I fell in love with Audrey Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell, and Maniscalco's storytelling. It's spellbinding in its own gruesome, dark way.

“You're dressed for sneaking about Dracula's castle. Be still my thawing, dark heart. You certainly know how to make a young man feel alive, Wadsworth.”


It took a while for me to finally get round to Hunting Prince Dracula but I ended up getting the audiobook and wasn't disappointed. I was transported straight to Romania in the middle of winter -- more specifically, Castle Bran.

Yes, that Castle Bran in Romania. The source of the stories of Vlad Dracul himself. After the events of Stalking Jack the Ripper, we follow Audrey as she begins studying at Castle Bran and, rather quickly, becomes entangled in yet another gruesome murder mystery. This time, people are showing up with stakes through their hearts and garlic shoved in their mouths. The only difference is that Audrey is battling severe PTSD and thus is more sensitive than she was in Stalking Jack the Ripper. It was incredibly heart-wrenching to watch Audrey struggle with what is real and what is her brain playing nasty tricks on her.

“You've stared Fear in its nasty face and made it tremble. You will make it through this, Wadsworth. We will mange it through this. That is a fact more tangling than any dream or nightmare. I promised I'd never lie to you. I intend to honor my word.”


The story is as compelling as ever, with odd characters that make the hair stand up on the back of your neck and gruesome folklore that -- I'm not going to lie -- I loved. I am so here for anything that has to do with Romania and its history. I am here for it.

Audrey's journey doesn't just take her to the discovery of the culprit, but also takes her to self discovery. By the end of the book, it was great to see a strong female lead know what she wants and work on how she's going to get it. It was refreshing to see.

"Society at large is staggeringly obtuse. If one simply looks to others for their opinions, they lose the ability to think critically for themselves. Progress would never be made if everyone appeared and thought and loved in the same manner."


In short, Hunting Prince Dracula is the creepy murder mystery novel I never knew I needed.

amazing

I have read Dracula many times but this was an amazing experience. The book was scary and witty. It ran shivers down a fifty year olds back and made me root for Audrey Rose at every turn.

Dark and Beautiful

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was lovely to listen to. The story itself it beautifully written, full of gothic horror and mystery which kept me engaged throughout.