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Fangland: A Novel Audiobook
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(2.03) - 605 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
An acclaimed novelist and former 60 Minutes producer grandly reinvents the Dracula epic in the halls of a certain television newsmagazine
In the annals of business trips gone horribly wrong, Evangeline Harker's journey to Romania on behalf of her employer, the popular television newsmagazine The Hour, deserves pride of place. Sent to Transylvania to scout out a possible story on a notorious Eastern European crime boss named Ion Torgu, she has found the true nature of Torgu's activities to be far more monstrous than anything her young journalist's mind could have imagined. The fact that her employer clearly won't get the segment it was hoping for is soon the very least of her concerns.
Back in New York, Evangeline's disappearance causes an uproar at the office and a wave of guilt and recrimination. Then suddenly, several months later, she's heard from: miraculously, she's convalescing in a Transylvania monastery, her memory seemingly scrubbed. But then who was sending e-mails through her account to The Hour employees? And what are those great coffin-like boxes of objects delivered to the office in her name from the Old Country? And why does the show's sound system appear to be infected with some strange virus, an aural bug that coats all recordings in a faint background hiss that sounds like the chanting of...place-names? And what about the rumors that a correspondent has scored an interview with Torgu, here in New York, after all? As a very dark Old World atmosphere deepens in the halls of one of America's most trusted television programs, its employees are forced to confront a threat beyond their wildest imaginings, a threat that makes gossip about an impending corporate shakeup seem very quaint indeed.
Written in the form of diary entries, e-mails, therapy journals, and other artifacts of early-twenty-first-century American professional-class life, compiled as an informal inquest by a very interested party, Fangland manages both to be a genuinely-in fact triumphantly-frightening vampire novel in the grand tradition and a, yes, biting commentary on the way we live and work now.
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"Crazy book. A very modern day Vampire style story, but nothing like the current modern vampire books that are so prevelent today. This one manages to but an even newer twist on this very old subject. It's graphic but very different, if you are looking for something like this. "
— Christy (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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Archer creepily depicts Evangeline's mesmerizingpsychological and physical journey…. Archer's tour de force interpretation…grips listeners.
— Booklist -
“Marks manages to make the familiar fresh, so that even devotees of the original will find themselves rapidly turning pages and being drawn into Evangeline’s fate and the stories of her friends and colleagues at The Hour.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review) -
“A scary twenty-first-century take on the stuff of Dracula, worthy of its rightful place among others.”
— Booklist
Fangland Listener Reviews
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" Have you read Stoker's Dracula? Then don't bother with this inferior novel. "
— Rita, 2/19/2014 -
" I hated this book. I understand that the author was trying to give a new perspective on vampires, but honestly? A vampire that has been around for centuries and seen all different kinds of massacre and death, has to use a bucket for blood drinking? You would think he would've figured out something a bit more sophisticated than that. There are characters that are brought into the story that are never explained or expanded upon. Can someone please tell what was with the Greek brothers that Torgu had in his hotel? This story seemed choppy at best. Nothing is ever fully explained and none of it flows very well. The author jumped perspectives, which is normally good to bring the story more detail but why change the perspective if you aren't going to say anything worthwhile. I was very disappointed and would not recommend this book at all. "
— Nicole, 2/12/2014 -
" What a disappointment! The pacing left a lot to be desired, for all the suspense that Marks was trying to create, I left feeling like not much really happened. I get what he was trying to do with the different points of view and journal/email/first person formats, but there wasn't enough grounding in each point of view character to make me care about what they had to say. Also, some wildly inefficient use of language- I don't need two long sentences about a pashmina scarf to get that a character is scared. "
— Jen, 2/11/2014 -
" My overall review of this is "Eh". It basically felt like a more modern retelling of the classic Dracula story. I actually put the book away after a while and didn't finish...which is something I very rarely do. Stick with other vampire books if you're looking for a blood-sucking good time. "
— Lindsay, 1/29/2014 -
" This book was one of the best adaptations of Dracula I've ever read. Mr. Marks did a great job of transferring the story successfully into a contemporary timeline. It seemed like all the characters were there - right down to creepy little Renfield. "
— Kirsten, 1/25/2014 -
" This book is crap. "
— Rach, 1/19/2014 -
" A creepy, intellectual modernization of the Dracula story. "
— Jill, 1/19/2014 -
" I thought this was actually and interesting twist on the vampire tale, but it wasn't very well executed. "
— Jane, 1/15/2014 -
" Middelmatige Dracula adaptatie. Gelijkende stijl met veel brieven en dagboeken. Setting: amerikaanse nieuwszender. Begint sterk maar verliest na een derde ongeveer zijn vaart. Naar het einde toe bijzonder vaag. En bij momenten ongepast vulgair. Afrader. "
— Spandi, 12/11/2013 -
" Despite a couple of plot holes, it's a pretty entertaining twist on vampire lore. "
— jtabz, 12/5/2013 -
" This was a pretty good book until the very end. I've never read a vampire book that turned out not to really be a vampire book. But it was a good read other than that. "
— Christina, 12/4/2013 -
" It is an okay book as far as vampire novels go. At least it is not as hokey as Twilight. There are some scary scenes but I had a hard time enjoying it because it is just another vampire novel. It is not as good as 'Let the Right One In' or 'Salemn's Lot.' "
— Patrick, 9/9/2013 -
" vampires and 60 Minutes-like tv folks--some fresh blood for the old gothic theme "
— Mark, 6/21/2013 -
" This is a new take on the Dracula myth and boy, did it stink. I had high hopes for this one after reading the inside jacket, but I was never able to connect with the main characters and the plot was just too boring after the first couple of chapters. Major disappointment. "
— Andrea, 3/22/2013 -
" Not a vampire novel. Attempts to 'contemporize' Bram Stoker's original and does that in many ways. Sadly, the novel just falls a little flat. "
— Taina, 10/12/2012 -
" Starts off great, falls apart in the end. Its as if it was written by two different writers? "
— Lawrence, 1/16/2012 -
" This book has me holding my breath, and yearning to continue. I'll let you know if I really enjoy it once it's completed... "
— Mandi, 11/1/2011 -
" This started out really well. An interesting play on the Dracula story, but as it went on, I lost interest. It was kind of difficult to go back and finish it. "
— Mary, 8/5/2011 -
" This book has me holding my breath, and yearning to continue. I'll let you know if I really enjoy it once it's completed... "
— Mandi, 11/21/2010 -
" Starts off great, falls apart in the end. Its as if it was written by two different writers? "
— Lawrence, 8/4/2010 -
" This was a pretty good book until the very end. I've never read a vampire book that turned out not to really be a vampire book. But it was a good read other than that. "
— Christina, 6/28/2010
About John Marks
John Marks has been a 60 Minutes producer and a Berlin bureau chief for US News & World Report. His books include three novels and one work of journalistic memoir, Reasons to Believe: One Man’s Journey Among the Evangelicals and the Faith He Left Behind.
About Ellen Archer
Ellen Archer has narrated numerous audiobooks and has won several AudioFile Earphones Awards, as well as the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She is an actress, and singer with a degree in opera performance from the Boston Conservatory. She has performed extensively on the New York stage and in regional theaters.