"The Madness" by Dawn Kurtagich is a modern retelling of Dracula. Our protagonist, Dr. Wilhelmina Murray, works in a psyche-ward for female trauma patients in London. She herself suffers from trauma and left home as a teen, leaving behind her dear friend Lucy, her mother Vanessa and her boyfriend Jonathan. But after a disturbing encounter with the patient Renee and a distressing email from Lucy, Mina returns as the prodigal daughter. She finds that Lucy is suffering from unpredictable violent seizures and an unknown rash. With the help of Quincey Morris, Lucy's ex-girlfriend and the local police inspector, and the hacker Singer, whose own daughter is missing, she discovers an underground ring dealing in unimaginable horror. Mina realizes that it's going to take inner strength, healing and the trust of family to fight such formidable evil.

The story moves rather quickly, and leaves little room for character development outside of Mina. It is written with the assumption that the reader has already read Dracula. But even as a retelling, you still have to develop all the characters if the story is ever going to stand on its own merits. The male characters come off as one-dimensional and with minimal dialogue, even the villains. Despite being the love interest, Jonathan Harker is a passive character, appearing only to assist in Mina's growth. To be fair, Mina is dealing with trauma and admits that keeping people at arm's length wasn't a healthy solution. It goes both ways though, and her friends learn a valuable lesson about grudges and neglect. Problem is, Mina's characterization is "The Only One" trope, which I do understand is a metaphor for overcoming her trauma. She "knows" she's the only one who can save Lucy. The final confrontation was intense for sure, but I wanted more action from her companions. ( )