The specter of the supernatural infuses this academic thriller, the debut of author Elizabeth Kostova. In 1972 Amsterdam, a sheltered, motherless teenager stumbles across an ancient book imprinted with a dragon and stuffed with 40-year-old, mysteriously addressed letters. Gradually, her father reveals the link between the book and various attempts to discover the tomb of the brutal warrior/ruler Vlad Tepes, better known as Dracula. Those who choose to become part of the search generally end up paying with their careers and their lives. Despite (or perhaps because of) these dire warnings, the nameless young woman finds herself compelled to discover who Dracula truly was...and whether he still exists today.