I didn't think this book would scare me....but it did!
Summary (from Goodreads): To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history…
Late one night, exploring her father’s library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to ‘My dear and unfortunate successor’. Her discovery plunges her into a world she never dreamed of – a labyrinth where the secrets of her father’s past and her mother’s mysterious fate connect to an evil hidden in the depths of history.
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| Vlad Dracula also known as Vlad the Impaler |
The main story is told in a series of flashbacks that are presented to the reader as if the father has written it all out in a series of letters to his daughter to explain the present day situation. I didn't feel like this literary device worked all that well. I would have preferred that the story had simply been told from the father's point of view from the beginning.
As always, I'm a little annoyed by coincidences that are stretched as far as they possibly can be, so for that, this books merely gets an OK from me.
I don't believe I'm giving anything away by telling you that this story centres on the hunt for the myth and the man named Vlad Dracula. However, I have to say that this isn't some teeny bopper vampire fantasy, and actual vampires are pretty few and far between in this novel. What I am most amazed about is how the author is still able to scare the living daylights out of you with just the hint of the possibility of something a little scary and dark out there. Believe me, when you're reading this alone late at night alone in your house and you hear a creak in the hallway, your mind will wander to some very crazy places~
Do you read thrillers and scary novels? Do you like being scared? Leave a comment below~
PS....Happy Halloween!
I have read The Historian twice. It is an adults vampire tale. I enjoyed it both times. It has it's scary moments. That line that says something to the effect that Vlad lives early on is pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteThe Historian is one of my favourite books (I say that having only read it once...so many books, so little time...lol). I liked the fact that it has multiple narratives :) To me, that set it apart from the average book and added to the mystery surrounding the different timelines within the story--as readers, we were fed just enough to whet our appetite, before the scene changes. Just like on a TV show! I could ramble loads about this book but I won't, haha.
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