Ihave finished this book for a few days now. It was a fascinating readand some scenes are sure to stick with you for a while. This book isabout Vlad Dracula. Not about Bram Stoker's vampire count anddefinitely not a vampire story.

The historical Dracula was a15th century Wallachia (part of Romania today) warlord and king whohad utter ambition of restoring a prosperous Christian kingdom andprotecting his nation from the Ottoman (Turkey). To fulfill hisdestiny, Dracula practiced extreme punishment, mostly impalement, tohis lifelong Turkish enemies as well as political rivals and commoncriminals in his country. His logic was that if he could not make hissubjects love him as a ruler, then he must lead them by fear. So thenobles would support his cause out of great fear; and the commonerswould obey the law or be punished by the most severe measures.

Thereis a very detailed description of impalement in chapter 13 “FirstTime”. It is not for the faint of heart. Subsequently moreimpalements appear in the book. Although they are not described indetail, the cruel image has already been planted deeply in my mindsince the “First Time”. When I was reading this part, I felt likeI was the noblemen and women in Vlad's court, being forced to watchthis horrific treatment of human being. So Vlad earned his nickname“the Impaler”, and he was feared by his people and his enemies.

Thereis a heartbreaking lovestory as well in this novel. Historically, wedon't know much about Vlad's love life. But through Humphreys'imagination, we see Vlad as a devoted lover and friend. His deathbrought me tears; and I felt like watching the ending battle of KenWatanabe's “The Last Samurai” again. The scene stayed in my mindfor many days.

Theending chapters are extrordinarily written. The twist was unexpected.It is a great surprise of fiction.

DespiteVlad's bloodstained name, he has always been a national hero inmodern day Romania. He represents justice, and protector of theircountry. The reason he has become an equivelant of vampire isunfathomable to Romanians. His name was borrowed by Bram Stoker whohad no precise knowledge of Vlad's history. The reason Stoker used“Dracula” as the name of his vampire count was that inWallachian, “Dracul” means “Dragon” and “Devil”. Thus itwas suitable for his bloodthirsty vampire.

Moreon real Vlad Dracula's life:

• Elizabeth Miller (a Dracula expert) www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller

C.C. Humphreys' website: www.cchumphreys.com/Site_2/Welcome.html

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊

Title: Vlad: The Last Confession

Author:C. C. Humphreys
Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Orion
ISBN-13:978-140910372