Covenant with the Vampire by Jeanne Kalogridis

I’ve tended to shy away from vampire fiction in recent years although I am a huge fan of the original Dracula by Bram Stoker and stories that take place in a similar vein (no pun intended). In other words, I enjoy the historical fiction aspects of Dracula, vampire lore, etc. much more so than the blood/guts, sexual innuendo/love triangles etc. that seem so common today.

This novel is the first of a trilogy and fits my preferences very well. It takes place over the course of just a few weeks in 1845, which is actually about 50 years before the Dracula story occurs. It’s told from the first person POV of three separate individuals, Arkady Tsepesh, his young (and pregnant) bride Mary, and his sister, Zsuzsanna Tsepesh. It is through their detailed diary entries that the entire novel is presented and that method works very well for it allows the reader to access their innermost thoughts when they are confronted with evidence of the impossible. It also allows the characters to sneak in and read the others' diaries to gain a better foothold on what is happening (and convince themselves that they aren't going mad). 

The story takes a deep dive into the history of Vlad Dracul and the family tree as Arkady returns from England to his Carpathian home to bury his deceased father. But it is his uncle Vlad that begins the real horror of the story as it becomes evident who he really is. The pact or covenant that the family Dracul has with the local village population to protect them from the strigoi also plays center stage. What follows is pure vampire horror in the traditional gothic horror style as Arkady and his loving wife struggle in a war for their very souls.

I liked the writing style of the novel as it is very similar to the original Stoker style, reading like Victorian age literature. It drips with authenticity and while I am certainly no expert on all things Transylvanian, the language, the visual tapestry that the words paint, the place names and family names…it all seems perfect. The ending, to me, seemed a little abrupt as a very long build-up nose-dived off the cliff to a very quick conclusion. I would have preferred a little more meat to this part but, perhaps that is just me wishing the book wasn’t over yet. Nevertheless, it does set up the second book and the very real possibility that the plot may move to England.

I will eagerly turn my attention to the next two books of the trilogy.