If this book was a beer it would be called Tim Powers Lite because it contains less.With a Victorian London setting, séances, and things that go bump in the night I should have loved this book. Tim Powers is one of my favorite authors but this isn't his best effort. There is not enough originality here. With garlic in hand he jumps on the vampire bandwagon in this novel although ghosts play a part as well. As in most of his books, there are supernatural goings on with characters joining in as the story unfolds. What made the difference for me is I got the feeling this is all familiar as he’s used the same techniques in earlier novels, so I knew what to expect and that diminished the effect. And unlike his other books, no one here seems to have a sense of humor. A little levity never hurts.One of the more difficult tasks in being a writer is that you have to re-invent. Stick to the same routine too often and you run the risk of your writing becoming formulaic. Since he’s written so many cool novels I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and I still look forward to whatever comes next.