Synopsis:

Late one night, exploring her father's library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters, addressed to "My dear and unfortunate successor," which plunge her into a world she never dreamed of— The letters provide links to one of the darkest powers that humanity has ever known—Vlad the Impaler, the medieval ruler whose barbarous reign formed the basis of the legend of Dracula. Is it possible that the Dracula of myth truly existed—and that he has lived on, century after century, pursuing his own unknowable ends?

Parsing obscure signs and hidden texts, reading codes worked into the fabric of medieval monastic traditions—and evading the unknown adversaries who will go to any lengths to conceal and protect Vlad's ancient powers—one woman comes ever closer to the secret of her own past and a confrontation with the very definition of evil.

Elizabeth Kostova's debut novel is an adventure of monumental proportions, blending fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is both suspenseful and horribly credible.

Read by Colin Stinton and Barbara Barnes.