VLAD, THE LAST CONFESSION
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DRACULA. A name of horror, depravity and the darkest sensuality.
Yet the real Dracula was just as alluring, just as terrifying, his tale not one of a monster but of a man… and a contradiction. For the one they called ‘The Devil’s Son’ was both tyrant and lawgiver, crusader and mass slaughterer, torturer and hero, lover and murderer. His tale is told by those who knew him best. The only woman he ever loved and who he has to… sacrifice. His closest comrade… and traitor. And his priest, betraying the secrets of the confessional to reveal the mind of the man history would forever remember as Tepes – ‘The Impaler’. But Vlad’s actions defy such labels. Like the comet that scorched Wallachian skies the summer he took and held his father’s throne, his extraordinary life burns with passion, taking him from his years as hostage to the Turk, through torture, battle, triumph and betrayal, ultimately to a last crusade – and there perhaps, beneath the twin banners of the Dragon and the Cross, to find redemption for his… innumerable sins. VLAD: THE LAST CONFESSION spins legend and facts and together into a monumental novel of blood, love and terror. This is the true story of Dracula … as it has never been told before. OPENING LINE: “All was still in the forest. The last snowflakes of the sudden storm had just fallen. Everything paused.” |
REVIEWS:
"A fast paced, intriguing and beautifully constructed thriller.” Daily Express, UK
‘Literate elegant writing… Vlad: The Last Confession superbly portrays the passions which drove Vlad, taking the reader on a whirlwind ride through torture, battle and despair. It’s a dark tale, but Humphreys illuminates it with historical details and page-turning bravura prose.’ Yorkshire Evening Post.
‘ “Vlad” is … an accessible, fast-paced, narrative-driven, damn-near-irresistible historical thriller. Humphreys’s research infuses every page, but never calls attention to itself; the story always has centre stage. It’s the consummate “good read” for a winter weekend, pulpy and engrossing and just gross enough to satisfy that monster craving.’ Robert Wiersema, Globe and Mail, Canada.
‘Literate elegant writing… Vlad: The Last Confession superbly portrays the passions which drove Vlad, taking the reader on a whirlwind ride through torture, battle and despair. It’s a dark tale, but Humphreys illuminates it with historical details and page-turning bravura prose.’ Yorkshire Evening Post.
‘ “Vlad” is … an accessible, fast-paced, narrative-driven, damn-near-irresistible historical thriller. Humphreys’s research infuses every page, but never calls attention to itself; the story always has centre stage. It’s the consummate “good read” for a winter weekend, pulpy and engrossing and just gross enough to satisfy that monster craving.’ Robert Wiersema, Globe and Mail, Canada.
