You won't be disappointed. It has my personal Seal of Approval. Seriously, how could you argue with someone who's screen name is phonetically identical to "ecstasy"?

Speaking of historical novels, another one I read recently that I quite enjoyed was Dan Simmons' DROOD. For those who haven't read or heard of it, it is a fictional account of Charles Dickens' final years after the Staplehurst rail crash in 1865, as told by his close friend (and secret rival) Wilkie Collins. Definitely a worthwhile read.

Another Dan Simmons book I highly recommend is CARRION COMFORT, which is quite possibly the scariest book I have ever read, and for my money, certainly one of the best horror novels of the twentieth century. At it's core, it is a vampire novel, but not in the conventional sense. It deals with what the author classifies as "mind vampires", who have the ability to enter the minds of other people and force them to do their bidding. It doesn't sound terribly original today, but the author makes it work, and it is definitely worth reading for anyone looking for a good fright.