Jackson Stein

4 stars. Set in 1447 Wallachia/Transylvania, this is the spooky and gripping story of young Prince Vlad the Third. He grows up alone and lonely in a remote castle watching for his father, the King, to return home from war. There are some really nice period details and overall great storytelling as we become fans of Prince Vlad and wait with him for daddy to show up...

There were a few slow spots here and there as Stein juggles locations and introduces new pivotal characters to the action. But, there were also a couple of very nice plot twists including one at the end that will hopefully lead to many sequels.

Overall, I liked the book quite a bit and look forward to seeing how Stein continues the Dracula legend. If you are a fan of hard vampire historical fiction, as opposed to fluffy sparkly vampire chick lit, then this is your book! I received a copy of the book, the review is my own.… (mais)