The Historian by Elizabeth

I picked up the at the library. And, I didn't realize it was about vampires until I was in a little too far(not that I would quit anyways). I'm not really into vampires. I think I am the only person in the world to read Twilight and not continue on with the series.
I was drawn into the past quickly and presented with the vast knowledgethe author has of the Ottoman Empire, Eastern European folklore, and the legend of Dracula. At it’s heart, The Historian, is the story of a young man led to believe his missing professor has been whisked away by the evil Vlad Tpesch, Dracula. Paul is drawn into a world where history and myth walk hand in hand. He receives a mysterious book, blank save for the chilling emblem of a dragon at the very center. When he shows this book to his mentor, Professor Rossi, it sets into motion a chain of events that lead him from his university in London, to Constantinople, Romania, Bulgaria and eventually the Transylvania province of Walachia. Along the way he meets a mysterious Romanian woman also searching for Rossi, a noble Turkish Scholar, various priests and numerous villains.
Most vampire tales, it seems, rely on cloaked figures, fangs, sucking blood and taking the shape of a giant bat to prey on their innocent victims. The Historian has none of this. It plods along, gathering information about the real Walachian Prince, taunting not only the main character and his female companion but the reader. The information and the search for Dracula is something I found interesting. It has the feel of a research paper, but an intriguing research paper.
I can’t decide it the historical aspects and the amazing depth they provide help or hinder this book. It just seems to me that she could have tightened the whole thing up and gotten to the heart of the matter and the stake through its heart, sooner(the book is around 650 pages).
It was an interesting read and more of a history lesson about places I don't know much about. But, ultimately, I felt that this was a book to be conquered. You know, one where after a time you feel so invested that you MUST finish it, you must defeat the book, you will NOT give up, no matter how much you are suffering.