A new, very thick, freshman effort from Elizabeth Kostova, which will satisfy history buff and Vlad the Impaler fans alike.

Three story lines are woven throughout, taking place in different time periods, each adding to the others with clues, backgrounds and surprises. The story is not linear; each story line winds through the chapters, sometimes confusingly, to produce a story rich in detail.

The book opens with the main narrator, a sixteen year old girl who discovers an ancient book with old letters tucked inside. The letters lead to the discovery of her fathers secret quest, her father's mentor previous efforts, and the riddle of her unknown mother.

All lead to a search for a living Dracula.

Will the girl find her missing father? Who is following her around dark libraries? What happened to her mother?

The ending moves quickly, and provides the most action in the story, solving all of the riddles finally in a rush.

If you love ancient history, travelogues, and a modicum of horror and action, you will love this book. It is a very long book, and better for times when you can curl up in a chair in front of a warm fire and delve in.

The author is adept at describing far away countries and forming characters who stick in your mind.

A little overdone with the history, making the middle of the book a bit mushy. Storylines are so jumbled, sometimes I wasn't sure which time period I was in. The main narrator, the sixteen year old girl is a flat character, no where near as well outlined as her mother or father, or even Dracula. The ending was a bit of a disappointment, since I felt she surrendered the story to a pat ending, using a character to solve the ultimate crisis, a Deux ex Machina.

Re-read Bram Stoker's Dracula

Excellent first book that needed a little heavier hand with editing.

I felt like I was traveling to exotic places with the characters.

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Created Jan 15, 2006 at 6:47pm • Submit your own review...