At 656 pages, Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian requires a little more tenacity than most vampire stories (Stoker's Dracula weighs in at 448 pages and most of Rice's Vampire Chronicles average 500 pages), but the reader is well rewarded for spending more than a few hours traveling the pages through most of Europe and parts of the former Soviet Union in an almost Da Vinci Code-like search for answers to the Dracula legend.  The main protagonist, a young teenage girl with links to eastern European blood and western European academics, finds the first clue from one of her father's letters.  This clue begins a search, not just for the infamous Vlad the Impaler, but also for the girl's mother, who supposedly died when she was still an infant.  Mysterious books with only a dragon printed in the middle, maps and ancient libraries, journeys behind the Iron Curtain, and strangers, who become fast friends, bitter enemies, and even rivals, all add to the surprise ending.  This book is exceptionally well-written for a first-time author, the descriptions are much more accurate than Stoker's travel guides, and the horror and suspense do not require a dip into the waters of sexuality mingled with blood.  Despite it's length, it is an exciting page turner that is redundantly hard to put down.  We read it cover to cover in under a week (12 hours).  What's even better is The Historian was recently released in paperback so there are no more good reasons for not picking up a copy.  We give it our highest rating - 5 skulls -

Paperback: 688 pages                                                Hardcover: 656 pages
Publisher: Back Bay Books (October 3, 2006)        Publisher: Little, Brown (June 14, 2005)
ISBN: 0316154547                                                        ISBN: 0316011770
Fear Knocks Staff Writers
Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel The Historian gets a solid 5 skull rating from Fear Knocks - Read it!
copyright 2006 Fear Knocks