Descendant by Graham Masterton

Descendant is a decidedly old school type of vampire novel. Whereas these days, the type of vampire that dominates fiction is either the sparkly type or the dashing bad boy type, the strigoi in this novel are clearly more of the monster variety. The concept of this novel is really neat. The nazis in World War II have reached a deal with the Romanian government to not take over their country in exchange for enlisting strigoi to their cause. An American, Captain James Falcon, is recruited by the Allies to hunt down the strigoi, including Dorin Duca, the head vampire. Years later, Dorin, thought to be dead, is killing people all across England, and James is brought back to the UK, where he will once again go toe to toe with Duca.



This is a terrific novel, one of the three or four best vampire novels I have ever read, and I consider myself a bit of an expert since I have written a vampire novel myself. The writing is masterful. The plot is tight. There is very little wasted space, which makes it stand out in comparison to some of the bloated novels I’ve read recently. The characterization is strong, both on the protagonist and antagonist side. And just when I thought the novel was over, there was more to it, and the ending proved to be rewarding. This is a must read novel.