Review for Artful A Novel by Peter David

Synopsis 

Oliver Twist is one of the most well-known stories ever told, about a young orphan who has to survive the mean streets of London before ultimately being rescued by a kindly benefactor.
But it is his friend, the Artful Dodger, who has the far more intriguing tale, filled with more adventure and excitement than anything boring Oliver could possibly get up to.

Throw in some vampires and a plot to overthrow the British monarchy, and what you have is the thrilling account that Charles Dickens was too scared to share with the world.

From the brilliant mind of novelist and comic book veteran Peter David, Artful is the dark, funny, and action-packed story of one of the most fascinating characters in literary history

Review

Well I'll begin this review by saying this is the first book I gave up reading half way through, since I started reviewing the books I read. I just couldn't get my head around the fact that Fagin and The Magistrate were vampires, who were plotting to turn Princess Alexandria Victoria in to a vampire to meet their own ends. It was a nice idea to use the Artful Dodger as the central character following on from the end of Oliver Twist, but the plot was ludicrous, Artful, junior Van Helsing and the Princess becoming vampire hunters in Victorian London, just doesn't ring true.

The authors style of writing and his attempt to replicate Dickensian language is really annoying and frankly, he doesn't really have the ability to pull it off. I checked the reviews on Goodreads and Amazon to check if I was being unduly harsh or was wrong about the book, and there were plenty that agreed with me.

I rate this book