The Swan Thieves

I love vampires, that's no secret, so when Elizabeth Kostova published her debut novel The Historian back in 2005 I was mildly extactic. In this novel which overlaps several decades, scholars go in search of Dracula's tomb leading to an exciting and gruelling voyage full of danger, mystery and an unavoidable dash of romance. This gothic novel / adventure novel / thriller / historical novel all rolled into one isn't your typical contemporary lovey dovey vampire fare but a good old fashioned chilling Victorian ghost story where vampires simply want to suck your blood, like it should be.

Classic vampire stories are usually filled with melancholy and passionate yet lonely creatures longing for redemption and a little AB-. The combination of mystery and tormented characters gets me every time and that is why I loved The Historian. Although it reads like a Dan Brown novel, minus the incredibly bad writing style, Kostova creates captivating tales that will haunt and entrall.

And this January she has finally released her second novel, The Swan Thieves:

Psychiatrist Andrew Marlowe has a perfectly ordered life - solitary, perhaps, but full of devotion to his profession and the painting hobby he loves. This order is destroyed when renowned painter Robert Oliver attacks a canvas in the National Gallery of Art and becomes his patient. Desperate to understand the secret that torments this genius, Marlowe embarks on a journey that leads him into the lives of the women closest to Oliver and a tragedy at the heart of French Impressionism.

A quest filled with art, love, history and obsession... now where is that 'add to basket' button?