The Historian Book Review

For some odd reason I've had this obsession with vampire lore for the past several years. I love reading about true lore about the mythologicalcreatures, but I, also, enjoy reading vampire entertainment style books. You know kind of like Bram Stoker's Dracula and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles'.

But, a few months ago, I found this wonderful little book that I had heard of when it first published a few years ago. I had just finished reading Cesar Milan's "Cesar's Way: The Natural Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems," so I was looking for something new to read while browsing Target's selection.

I found The Historian on sale. I quickly grabbed the book, as I had remembered the publicity that it received when it premiered.

"To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history...."

A young woman finds an old book and a collection of yellowing letters, to which were addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor." The woman's affinity towards history and her love for her father, began a journey of the secrets in her father's past that connect to a secret hidden world that even history has yet to discover.

The letters provide keys to the truths of Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose infamous reign on Walachia created the basis for the Dracula legend, but is it really a legend?

This young woman traces her fathers past with his stories and letters, as well as her attraction to the past, in order to find her father who is leaves on a quest to find his long lost wife.

This vampire ladden story has the bases of many truths and historical facts behind it. Follow the journey of this young woman across European land in search for her father, who is in search for the true, living, Dracula...

Following clues she has learned from ancient libraries, she has put together the path that her father has taken, following his stories of Istanbul, Budapest, and Eastern Europe. From monasteries and archives, this story of letters and secrets divulge the truths about Vlad the Impaler and his dark reign.

Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an wonderful adventure of great proportions, that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with suspense and unforgettable tales.