When I picked up this book, I had no idea it was going to be a vampire book. If I had known that beforehand, I probably wouldn’t have read it. I was obsessed with vampires for a bit but am pretty much fed up with them by now. It was good that I found out it was actually a vampire book when I was about halfway through, because it turned out to be an enjoyable read. The book is mostly told from the perspective of a mortal. The vampires are not on the forefront, which allows for the reader to relate to the vampires from an outsider perspective, as the main character does. This serves to not saturate the reader.
With that said, there is really nothing new added to the vampire trope in this book, with the exception of the use of historical characters, such as the Count of Saint Germain, which was well done. The book ends in a climax comparable to one we could view in a horror film, and on a very good cliffhanger. I will most likely pick up the second installment of this series to see how everything ends. I had a feeling the author was inspired by Anne Rice (I’m a huge Anne Rice fan myself and can spot her influences a mile away) and the author does acknowledge Rice’s vampire novels partly inspired this story. It is an entertaining and well-written book for fans of dark fantasy and especially Anne Rice and her breed of elegant vampires.
The Literary Bend 