In a confection featuring both Rumania's most famous legend and England's greatest detective, a stolid prose style could have been a virtue, an understated elegance. Yet the two voices of this novel--Prince Dracula's and Dr. Watson's, narrating events that befell Sherlock Holmes--are virtually indistinguishable and far too plodding to spice up a rather drab story. It is 1903, and Holmes has been engaged to investigate the drowning death of Louisa Altamont, fiancee of the young American journalist Martin Armstrong. During a seance conducted by the sister-brother team of Sarah and Abraham Kirkaldy, Louisa appears--and Holmes vanishes from sight. Meanwhile, Vladimir Kulakov, a pirate hanged in London 38 years earlier, has made a startling reappearance in St. Petersburg. Watson quickly enlists the aid of Prince Dracula, here Holmes's vampire cousin, to find Holmes and put matters to rights. Saberhagen (the Berserker series, The Holmes - Dracula Files ) intertwines his invented characters with existing literary personalities to an empty, if pleasant, effect: none of the made-up figures seems more than a caricature, although Sarah Kirkaldy's affair with Dracula does have its moments. Ardent Holmes and/or vampire fans may enjoy seeing their heroes in new situations, but others are advised to read the originals.

Taking a break from his successful Berserker and Book of Lost Swords series, Saberhagen returns to his modern-day Count Dracula tales in this fast-paced sequel to An Old Friend of the Family . After more than a decade, the Chicago-based Southerland family again finds itself involved with the 500-year-old fiend who loved their great-great-grandmother in Bram Stoker's original story (and in The Dracula Tape , Saberhagen's first vampire tome). Finding the Count (now known as Uncle Matthew) poisoned and comatose in his upscale condo, John Southerland and his fiancee try to nurse him to health while defending the apartment against various living and "undead" foes. They also discover a tape-recorded autobiography telling of the Count's early bloodsucking days and his encounters with 15th-century legends Cesare and Lucretia Borgia, who may be masterminding the current attack. The Chicago characters become less interesting once the historical intrigue begins, but overall this thriller/romance will please fans thirsting for more adventures of a gentlemanly ghoul. 
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.