Vampires of Carpathia — Robert Davis

It is the final quarter of the Nineteenth Century; the Ottoman Empire is falling and Eastern Europe is in turmoil. As small nations break free and declare their independence, civil war and chaos ensues and the ancient vampire-kings, long thought defeated in the Thousand Nights War, seize their chance to rise to power once again.

Considered an anachronism in this industrial age, the brotherhood of vampire-hunters has all but disbanded, and Anders Dragolescu is one of only a few who remain. In this volume of six exciting novellas, Dragolescu and his young apprentice, Stefan, investigate a series of apparently unrelated vampire attacks across Carpathia, and uncover a sinister conspiracy.

A chance encounter with a beautiful lady in danger leads the two vampire-hunters to discover a terrible secret beneath ‘The City of the Crippled Dead'. A civil war in a neighbouring country gets personal for Stefan when he storms ‘The Prison of the Undying Warlord'; and, as a harsh winter grips Carpathia, Dragolescu rides to the aid of a band of travellers, who have heard ‘The Howl of the Blood Wolf'.

The race is on for Dragolescu to find ‘The Deliverance Engine' before it falls into the wrong hands; and a village on the edge of the wilderness lives in terror when it is stalked every night by ‘The Shadow of Ultimate Fear'. Lastly, the tables are turned and Dragolescu is hunted by demonic assassins when he battles against ‘The Unholy Triumvirate'.

In this, the first in a new series of blood-chilling adventures, the dark powers of the night are gathering their forces in preparation for war; and Dragolescu is the only man who can stop them.