Covenant with the Vampire

Set in Transylvania, Kalogridis's smooth first novel launches a projected vampire trilogy that begins some 50 years before the action of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Like that classic work, this story is told through the diary entries of its major players. Upon the death of his father, Arkady Tsepesh is recalled from London with his pregnant wife to take over the family estate and care for his great-great-uncle-who happens to be the original Vlad the Impaler, now nearly 400 years old. As Vlad's power waned, he made a covenant with the villagers near his castle that he would spare their lives provided that they serve him faithfully. Arkady's father found himself bound to this service, as were all first males descended from Vlad. And now Arkady, too, must see that Vlad is well supplied with nourishing visitors lured from abroad. Kalogridis works hard to tighten suspense, dreams up new lore and here and there, especially in erotic passages, strives for fine writing of the sort that set apart Interview with the Vampire in the purple days of Anne Rice. But though the novel has many original touches, the diary format impedes the narrative momentum. Literary Guild; Doubleday Book Club; Science Fiction Book Club selections. (Oct.)