Suppose that, one morning, an old book mysteriously appears on your desk, and its only content is a picture of a sinister, twisting dragon with the word "Drakulya". Who left it there, and why? Who, or what, is Drakulya?

The Historian follows 3 intertwining plots -- a girl seeking her father, her father seeking his mentor, and his mentor seeking the origin of the mysterious book. The plots take place in different decades and different countries, but they all begin with the discovery of the book, and the girl, the father, and the mentor all end up searching for the same thing: Dracula. The protagonists are none of them warriors or heroes, just bookish researchers, solving mysteries and defending themselves with the only weapon they have, knowledge.

I've never had any particular interest in Eastern Europe, but Kostova's evocative descriptions of Istanbul and Budapest made me fall in love with the locales and long to see them for myself. This is, I think, the strongest aspect of the book. Each setting is painted for you with piquant, well-chosen details of architecture, food, people, and historical background. The background, especially, is fascinating, though some will get impatient with the history lessons and prefer the author to just get on with the story.

The story is, actually, quite slow in the beginning, but as it chugs along it gains speed, and the gradual revelations and lurking dread build up to some delicious, hair-pulling suspense. It hasn't much in the way of action, though there is some -- this being a book about researchers, most of the action takes place in hushed libraries and secluded monasteries, where the outcome rests not on a car chase or gun fight, but on the acquisition of obscure facts in tattered documents. The central premise, of a mysterious book appearing one day out of the blue, appealed to me strongly. I couldn't resist such a mystery, and neither could the protagonists, which is what leads them into danger. I liked watching the puzzle pieces fall into place, and I liked following characters who were not so very different from myself.

Unfortunately, the end of the book, beginning with the unveiling of the principal actor, was rather disappointing. The villain ceased to be menacing once he was revealed, and his characterization did not surprise or intrigue me, as it was something I had seen before. (I seem to be the only one who feels this way about him, though.) The story was wrapped up with some convoluted deus ex machina, and left threads dangling awkwardly, though I think the intent was to be ominous.

For all that the ending disappointed me, I loved the book and recommend it warmly to those of a bookish bent who love history and mystery. It does mention sex and contain disturbing descriptions of ancient atrocities (this is about a guy called Vlad the Impaler, after all), but the book is appropriate for teenagers on up.