The Historian -- Elizabeth Kostova

In case you haven't noticed, Little, Brown (AKA Time Warner) has been pushing this book like there's no tomorrow.  Swear to god, it's on the back of every other magazine I pick up--and if it isn't on the back, there's an ad for it in there somewhere.  They're trying to promote it as the mega combo Dan Brown/Anne Rice summer novel.

Well, it's got history and vampires.  Other than that, it is IN NO WAY like Dan Brown and Anne Rice.  It's just like when they pushed Artemis Fowl as the next thing to read for Harry Potter fans.  NOT THE SAME!!  Just because there are similar elements DOES NOT mean that fans of one will automatically love the other.  Stupid publishing industry.  (Whatever.  I know that they're just trying to sell books--a million Dan Brown fans will go into B&N, plunk down their $25.95, start the book and never finish it.  I understand how it works.  I just think that it's lame).

Anyway.  It actually feels more like Dracula.  (Which is fitting, since it's about a search for The Old Fanged One himself).  It would've worked really well as a serialized story in a newspaper--there's a cliffhanger at the end of pretty much every chapter.  It was fun--I really enjoyed it, especially the focus on Vlad the Impaler, the actual historical figure.  But that's me.  I don't think that it's the average guy's idea of a beach book. 

[Later: Holy crap, look at the reviews at Amazon.  For the most part, they totally back me up.  People that wanted a new Da Vinci Code are pissed!  Ha ha.  It's situations like this that remind me of what fabulous-o booksellers we were at The Monkey.]