Sedgwick, a proven master at presenting well-written novels tied to the occult just for teens, introduces his readers to a traditional tale of vampyres (or "hostages") set in Eastern Europe.

It is the 17th Century, and Peter and his father Tomas settle in a a small village, where the work their trade as woodcutters. They have travelled for all of Peter's life, but they are always able to use their skills to construct a comfortable cottage. It is tough for Peter, though, since he has not been able to build strong relationships because they never stay anywhere for long. To make matters even worse, Tomas is an alcoholic, requiring Peter to take on most of the responsibilities of their work.

It does not take long for Peter to realize that something is up as cows and sheep start turning up dead, drained of their blood. This becomes almost personal when a young girl Peter has a growing interest in is forced in a wedding of the dead, a tradition that creates a widow of a young girl so an unmarried man might achieve that sacriment before he is buried. The problem is that it requires her to go into mourning and isolation on the edge of the village for 40 days.

It is at this point that things start to pick up pace. Peter is directly confronted directly with the hostages. He does what he can with the help of a gypsy girl, but there is a question as to whether it will be enough. They will need to convince the only person with the tools and the skills needed to stop this spread of evil before the whole village is lost.

Sedgwick masterfully weaves a wonderful gothic tale using various traditiong folklore relating to vampires in Eastern Europe while also allowing the readers to stay on the edge of their seats as they join Peter. Sedgwick concludes the story with an interesting Author's Note where he describes the specific folk beliefs he used and why.

The writing in this work, like most of his pieces is extremely strong and rich. It is definitley meant for strong readers, though, due to the inclusion of rich detail and confident vocabulary. The one challenge is that it is easy to confuse some of the characters at the start of the book because so many of the traditional Eastern European names are similar, but that changes as the reader becomes more familiar with who is who.