Author: Will Hill
Series: Department 19 (book 4)
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Release Date: 5 Jun 2014
ISBN-13: 978-0007505852
Synopsis
As Dracula continues his rise, the men and women of Department 19 wait for good news. But hope is in short supply – the country is beginning to fall apart as the public comes to terms with the horror in their midst; a cure for vampirism remains years, even decades away; and their supposed ally Valentin Rusmanov has not been heard from in weeks.
Jamie Carpenter and his friends are working hard to keep the forces of evil at bay, but it is beginning to feel like a lost cause…Until familiar faces from the past bring news that could turn the tide. News that takes Matt Browning to America on a desperate search for a miracle, and sends Jamie and Larissa Kinley into the darkest corners of eastern Europe, where something old and impossibly powerful waits for them.
Something that could stop Dracula for good.
But the clock is ticking.
Night is falling. And Zero Hour is almost here…
My Review
I have been obsessed with this series for the last couple of weeks and couldn't wait to get my hands on book 4! I will be honest and say I thought it would be the last one in the series - it is not!!! There is one more to come, this book ends with the simple words 'to be concluded' but those simple words hold so much weight and meaning. I can't believe I have to wait to find out how it all ends. Considering this book only came out in June - it's going to be at least a year until the next one, how can I possibly wait that long!? I hope I am wrong and it's much sooner than that - I have to know how it all turns out.
Anyway onto the review -
Zero Hour continues where Battle Lines left off but a couple of months further down the line - the hour of Dracula's return is closer than ever and the Department 19 team are pushed to their limits. Every officer available is out on recon missions - scouting out vampires and bringing them down, some more dangerous than others, but each day the threat rises and life becomes a struggle just to survive.
Our main character is still Jamie but Larissa, Matt, Katt, Turner and Holmwood all play much bigger parts and that's how I like it. The whole organisation seems to have come to life and all of the people feel like team mates - people I know and trust. They step off the page and into my mind and heart, I route for them, fight with them and feel their hope and loss. I could not be further into this world without physically climbing through the pages and now I have finished this book I feel a little lost.
At one point I looked at this book and thought 'how can this not end in 700 pages - surely there can't be that much too it, and another book to come?' but my word you would be surprised - the pages are filled with everything and anything - but it is all vital to the story, every single bit works towards the final hour and builds the world, the characters and the plot. And I soared through those 700 pages, never looking back, desperate to know what happens but dreading the end. I don't know how Will Hill does it, I really don't. These books are just incredible and the writing just flows off the page. These books could be twice as big and still not be enough for me!
I am so happy to have discovered this series and proudly name it as one of my ultimate favourites. I highly recommend it and think everyone should read it.
Slight warning that there is a lot of violence, blood and gore included so younger readers need to take care.
I now sit, waiting for news on book 5 - waiting for the day Dracula faces Larissa and Jamie again, wondering what the outcome will be. For the moment though, I have found 5 short stories from the series on Amazon and downloaded them on my kindle, so I can still dip into the world of Department 19 and find out a bit more about it's past. This may help to maintain my sanity - for now!
My Rating
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