“Reconciliation Day” is a stand-alone short story, written by Christopher Fowler, that is part of a series called Bibliomysteries: Short Tales About Deadly Books.

Obsessed with the legendary “blue edition” of Dracula, a rare and supposedly altered version of Stoker’s classic rumored to contain a different ending and a chapter set in Dracula’s library, leading Dracula expert Carter to Transylvania. His quest to find this elusive book forces him into an uneasy alliance with his rival, as they unravel a present-day mystery intertwined with Carter’s own imagined reconstruction of Stoker’s lost chapter, blurring the lines between fiction and reality amidst the shadowy landscapes of Dracula’s homeland.

“Reconciliation Day”, of course, reminded me more than a bit of the book I just reviewed here by Royce Prouty entitled Stoker’s Manuscript. Both involve Transylvania and Stoker’s Dracula. Both writers began with a very promising idea. In the end, however, neither writer was fully able to live up to the promise. Both seemed to go “a bridge too far” and for different reasons lost their momentum.

Maybe it was too much for me to hope for. But since so many writers have been able to do such wonderful pastiches based on the character of Sherlock Holmes, I assume that someone should be able to do the same with the character of The Count.

Don’t get me wrong. If you are a Stoker or Dracula fan by all means read “Reconciliation Day” as well as the novel Stoker’s Manuscript. After all, the world needs more classic Count Dracula.