Vlad: The Last Confession by C.C. Humphreys
ISBN: 9781402253515
Published by Sourcebooks Landmark, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.
Historical Fiction, 416 pages

FTC Disclosure: Review copy provided by publisher

When I was pitched this book, it almost sounded to good to be, well . . . good.

How many times have you bought a book (or asked for a review copy) and wanted it to be as good as the blurb, yet past let-downs jaded your hope?

I’ve never been so happy to be disappointed.

Historical Fiction can be a challenging genre to read if the author hasn’t take care to do their research. It also takes skill to weave that knowledge into a story seamlessly, never allowing it to detract from the overall storytelling, but to enhance it. When done well, it entertains and informs, tells a story of history with enough credibility behind the fiction to support and feed it.

Humphreys does this with his main character as well. Vlad, known by other names including ‘Dracula’, is a man many think they know much about, but in reality, the truth is overshadowed by unflattering propaganda. He fictionalizes Vlad’s life using as much truth as he could gather and uses it in a way to be as fair as possible, while clarifying the forces which drove him to such brutal extremes in order to do what he felt was best for his country, his people, his faith.

This brutality was not innate. At least this is what the reader comes away with after reading Vlad’s story. It was learned, then reflected back at those who had used it against him as well as his enemies.  This is the hardest part of the read and very disturbing.

Although Humphreys does not go into a great amount of detail, the heinous acts perpetrated upon Vlad, and the ones he inflicted on others is shocking. As much as I was prepared for it, it still had a powerful impact. It gives a complexity to the man that forces a re-evaluation of all that you have learned previously.

The most interesting aspect of this novel is the narration.  It is told using the third person however, it is actually three people – those who knew Vlad best who are telling it. The writer mixes each voice to become one: Vlad, making his voice strong throughout.

The story is told in a linear fashion, allowing the reader to grow in understanding as Vlad descends in depravity. Not that it is to be excused, but at least there is a basis for it  – a method to this dark Prince’s madness. The reader is left to decide if Dracula deserves his infamy, is misunderstood, or in a way a bit of both.

I have to warn you, this is a challenging read, not so much for some of its content, but the feelings that remain afterward. It makes you think harder about what is good, what is evil, and what happens when the two collide and combine within the soul.

I love this book. One of the best historical fiction novels I’ve read. It gets my highest rating and a strong recommendation.

The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Fiction/Horror, 585 pages
ISBN: 978-0-06-155824-5
Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins

FTC Disclosure: Purchased

[muffled] Is it safe to come out now? [pulls covers off] Whew, daylight.

Read this book and tell me if you don’t at least spend one night sleeping under the covers with the lights on.

I dare you.

Well okay, I bet some of you can, but I’m a bit of a wuss and couldn’t.

And it wasn’t the gore, although there is enough of it. It was never gratuitous though.

Vampires aren’t a new concept, but Del Torro and Hogan create theirs in a fashion so well done you honestly think that in some ways, it’s plausible. Not so much the superstition-based aspect, but environmentally or genetically, an insidious virus can potentially cause the fall of mankind.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire and throughout the centuries tales of monsters have survived. Why? That’s for psychologists to debate. As for us pedestrian thinkers it’s just plain scary as hell and part of us knows better. But the other part wants to feel validated that some of our base fears are justified. That we aren’t delusional or crazy.

I liked this story. It had my heart going several times and that’s what it’s all about. This is a thrilling ride of a read.

I would go on, but I’ve given enough away and I see other reviews are making the rounds. As I believe a reader should always get several opinions, I’ll just say go read the others thoughts then get your hands on a copy of this book!

• Linus’s Blanket (reviewed Jan 24, 2011)
• My Favourite Books (reviewed May 17, 2009)
• Wordsmithonia (reviewed Jan 18, 2011)

Oh, and you may want to be sure you read this during the day. With the doors locked. And you know, sleeping with a nightlight isn’t so childish. Really.

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
Fiction Collection (Paranormal/Horror), 336 pages
Harper Paperbacks
ISBN13: 978-0061147982

FTC Disclosure: Library Book

This collection of sixteen stories surprised me. Not the quality so much as the diversity. If anyone has ever wondered, or perhaps doubted the power of the short story form, Joe Hill at times masters it, and then makes it jump through flaming hoops.

I can’t say each story thrilled me. There were a couple I felt were “sectional”, as if they were chapters excerpted from a whole. But what sections they were!

My favorites were stories that brought to mind my younger days when I watched Night Gallery. The series ran from the time I was eight years old until I was eleven and left an indelible impression on me.

I dislike gory movies. However I love artists that through acting, directing, or writing can make my imagination frighten me more than anything that is intensely graphic.

The Black Phone and Last Breath are the two that are my hands-down favorites. If I went camping, and had to real aloud scary bedtime stories, these would be at the top of my list.

There is something for everyone in this collection: physically and psychologically induced horror; stories of the paranormal; ones that are just on this side of darkness; others delve into that darkness.

Here are some of the notes I jotted down after reading a story:

• Best New Horror – an editor who read so much horror he was numb to it, until it became his own story; not to read about, but to live.
• Pop Art – A friend who isn’t solid, yet has more substance than real people.
• Dead-wood – No note really, just a quote: “Something that doesn’t know when it’s alive obviously can’t be expected to know when it’s dead.”
• Bobby Conroy Comes Back From The Dead – A man finding new life through death. Being a zombie does have its perks.

I wanted to read more short stories this year and I’m happy I came across this collection.

I liked this so much, I dug out Heart-Shaped Box from my TBR. I definitely want to read it. Soon.