Nocturne

By Elaine Bergstrom
Ace Books

There's more than a little "Romeo and Juliet" in Elaine Bergstrom's newest Austra novel, the first in a long while and worth the wait. Bergstrom's vampires (Shattered Glass, Blood Rites, Daughter of the Night, Blood Alone) are her own—sexy beings who need blood for sustenance but who prefer a knife or blade to their canines. The Austras are few in number because of the difficulty finding human women who can bear their children, and their family bonds are so strong that they are incapable of hurting each other. Their creative urges are channeled into the family business, an international stained glass conglomerate, except for some whose talent runs to music. Richard (Dickie) is one such, apprenticed to composer Laurence who lives in Chicago.

Set in the late '60s and early '70s, Nocturne is Dickie's story, though as is typical of Bergstrom, other Austras take a spin narrating the parts he can't or won't share. Dickie becomes the vampire version of an adult and is soon smitten with Irena, a beautiful young opera singer at the conservatory who shares his Romanian roots. Arranging to become her accompanist, he is also soon her lover—but she has been touched by an Austra before, his "father," and shady others have an interest in her as well. Others who fear the Austras but lust for their immortality, strength and powers. Pulled into the Austras' orbit, Irena knows what they are and shares in Dickie's need for blood. But will she exchange and become one of them, leaving behind her humanity? Danger follows the young lovers until they are forced apart by her decision to visit Ceausescu's Romania as part of a good will opera tour. But once the tour begins, she is catapulted into an international incident—and faced with a danger none of the Austras have clearly understood. Until now.

Dickie hastens to her rescue, himself becoming enmeshed in a political conspiracy that also incorporates the Austra heritage and a little-known branch of the family whose very ambitions are pure danger for any Austra. Blood is the answer, and Austra blood is precious beyond measure. And the enemies will do anything to possess it. But in the surveillance-laden atmosphere of the secretive and bloodthirsty Ceausescu regime, enemies abound and new alliances must be formed.

This is an engrossing novel that brings old vampire mythology together with near-modern day political realities, exploring the connections and roots of the Austra family while taking them closer to our era. Bergstrom excels in realizing the time and setting, getting the flavor just right. Her vampires are more intriguing than the average version because they are not traditional, but rather more brooding and philosophical—and musical—as well as rich and powerful. The appearance of the Austras' patriarch Francis, whose castle lies hidden in the Romanian mountains, gives Nocturne its beguiling ending—and a lead-in to the next chapter of the family history. Lush, romantic, and bloody in unexpected ways, Nocturne will make you want to reread the earlier books.