Secret Life of Laszlo, Count Dracula
Roderick Anscombe
St. Martin's, Feb 2006, $14.95
ISBN: 0312357664

In 1866, Hungarian medical student Laszlo studies under Dr. Charcot in Paris at the Salpetriere hospital. However, his studies are interrupted when he obsesses over a female patient, Stacia. Soon the Hungarian student and Stacia have a tryst that ultimately ends in ugliness with Laszlo in a rage killing her. Knowing he could be in trouble with the law if he remains in France, Laszlo flees for Hungary using the excuse of the death of his older brother George, which makes him Count Dracula.

In Hungary the Count marries his late sibling's widow, and though it is not easy, lives a somewhat abstemious sedate lifestyle, though he finally succumbs to the passion of a beautiful young woman who he ultimately kills as he did in Paris. When typhoid threatens the villagers, Count Dracula serves as medical savior, dispensing healing to one and all, even as he takes and kills young ladies.

This is a terrific version of Count Dracula, who instead of being a vampire suffers from a psychotic disorder. Laszlo keeps the exhilarating storyline focused as the audience follows his misadventures and ugly deeds, as he sees them as euphoric. Fans of Dracula and those who appreciate a dark psychological suspense thriller will want to read the "humanizing" of the infamous count, as Roderick Anscombe provides a powerfully tense one sitting tale.