Santo Dios, this book is finally done. I felt like it was 100 pages too long... only to find that it's part of a larger, even longer trilogy. (....Because there aren't enough vampire series?) 
 Of the many, many characters introduced, I really liked the main characters. The backstory of one of them, Abraham Setrakian, is absolutely fascinating and what initially pulled me into the book. Through Abraham, we learn about the history of this particular vampire lore. When the story moved away from that to present day, I felt it lost its appeal and originality and became just another vampire/horror story. Then again, authors trying to inject TOO much originality into vampire fiction is what leads to sparkly fucking vampires. 
 If we weren't in the midst of Twilight-mania, I would probably judge this book less harshly and much more favorably. However, acute vampire fatigue set in midway through the book and I felt like I was slogging through to the end, forcing myself not to stop as I'd already invested 200 pages. The ending left me curious for the next book, but not curious enough to actually pick it up. Yet.