With Daughters of Shadow and Blood, J. Matthew Saunders has given us the most profound, intelligent, champion of a vampire thriller in contemporary literature. I have just finished it and my head is still spinning. This book—and I do not exaggerate—is an Islamic Da Vinci Code on fire.
We start the search for a dragon medallion in the Berlin living room of Yasamin with Dr. Adam Mire. From there, we go back almost a thousand years to Yasamin in Hungary under the Ottoman Empire. These two stories alone create enough depth for a spectacular read. Saunders takes us deeper, transitioning between these two layers, all the while giving us additional clues through books, letters, and newspaper interviews that chronicle—Guess who? Vlad the Impaler, who carries a whole laundry list of recognized (though not traditionally linked) names over our thousand year tour. All the while, we have Dr. Mire a week before he finds himself in Yasamin's living room, on an exhilarating Eastern European journey with two fantastic sidekicks: Anya and Kostya, a priest in the Russian Orthadox Church Special Forces.
If you're reading this review and thinking you'll be confused, think again. Saunders is a master of layered storytelling and the transitions are effortless to the reader. All is revealed in a blissfully synchronous fashion, packaged up in one of the best thrill reads you could possibly get your hands on.
FIVE STARS
I was given an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and Saint George's Press in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon link: Daughters of Shadow and Blood - Book I: Yasamin
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