There's no better place to set a vampire novel than in New Orleans: The cultured elegance of the French Quarter, combined with the rot, age and decay of the Vieux Carre and surrounding swamps perfectly reflects the traditional interpretation of vampires themselves. In this novel, Martin re-interprets the vampire legacy a little. Here, vampires are simply a different race of animals, a distant branch off the humanoid tree. They suck blood, they have tremendous strength and speed, and are vulnerable to the sun, but the other stuff, the garlic, the mirrors, and the holy water are all silly superstitions.

Martin centers his tale around the character of a fat, incurious steamboat owner named Abner Marsh. Cap'n Marsh longs to resurrect the glory of his merchant career, and build the fastest steamboat the Mississippi has ever seen. The trouble is, Abner is low on funds and only has one boat left. But when a pale stranger named York meets Cap'n Marsh in a St. Louis restaurant at midnight, he carries a tempting offer: Nearly unlimited funds to build Marsh's dream ship, if York can become his partner and ride the river to New Orleans. Of course, Abner can't resist this temptation, and uses York's funds to build the most hauntingly beautiful steamship the river's ever seen: The Fevre Dream. Of course, Abner's new partner keeps odd hours, only stirring after sundown, and he has a lot of weird pale friends, but it's not Abner's place to pry. And all that special supply of red wine York likes to drink from those dusty old bottles... that's just a bit odd.

Martin is a superb writer and astounding craftsman. He's obviously done a lot of research on antebellum river life, and you feel like you're really there. Abner Marsh is a finely-written character with strengths and weaknesses, and you can't help but be pulled into his story: You cheer his triumphs and groan with his vices. The book beautifully ties the issue of slavery into the web of ideas surrounding the vampires as well, likening the slaveholders in the South to the vampires feeding off their "cattle." Martin also evokes a thoroughly beautiful Mississippi River setting, full of poetry and darkness and romance. Finally, there's also enough action and tension to make you turn the page, to yearn to find out what happens next in the mysterious river trips of Marsh, York, and the ghostly Fevre Dream.