Tried&Tested said:
Looking for something very good to read.
No much of a reader usually so it needs to be something that'll keep me interested.
That's it really..hopefully enough for you to work on!
It's hard to recommend without knowing what kind of reader you are.
One contender would be Elizabeth Kostova's
The Historian.
This is a thriller, based on the premise that the historical Vlad the Impaler is much closer to the literary version from Bram Stoker than people realise and that Dracula is, indeed, both a vampire and still among us.
But if you're looking for Hollywood buckets of blood and loud bangs, you'll be disappointed. The Historian is FAR more seductive and cerebral than that. It's both elegant and eloquent, and teases the reader through quite a long story, replete with historical fact, from Byzantine Constantinople to pre-Soviet invasion Hungary, from Romanian peasant village to modern Amsterdam, a blaze of cultural detail and a tension that never quite let's you anticipate the next shock, or twist.
Imagine someone sneaks up behind you and makes a loud bang. Are you more shocked if you're sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for it, or if you're sittling back, relaxed and half-dozing? If Dan Brown's pseudo-historical thrillers are the 'sitting on the edge of the seat, waiting for it' type, then Kostova has you nice and cozy, relaxed, tension eased, luxuriating in a hot bath, when the shock hits .... and it's all the more powerful for it.
The historian is not a thrill a minute type of thriller, but it IS a thriller. It's more celebral than pulp, and though I enjoy Dan Brown, the Historian is FAR better written. Nor, for that matter, is this an attempt to cash in on Brown's historical/thriller genre, as it was a project that took 10 years to complete. It is, however, an amazing read,
provided you're looking for something thoughtful and insightful, not a page-a-minute pulp shocker.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, but then I'm an avid reader anyway, and I suspect it isn't everyone's cup of tea. All I can say is that if anyone does try it, give it a chance for the story to get it's teeth into you (as it were
), and don't expect Bela Lugosi or even Christopher Lee. The Historian is more 'mist in the dark' than snarling werewolf, more hackle-raising 'eerie noise in the dark' than dripping fangs. And Dracula himself? Well, there's a reason he's interested in historians and librarians.
Oh, and for a fact, there are autobiographical elements to this book. You're just wondering where .... and if .... fiction takes over. It's a masterfully plausible story.
Oh, and it's not a quick read. Settle in for the duration. This is a book for cold, winter nights, not 30 minutes a day on the train while you commute.
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