The first book in the Necroscope series.  This book features two parallel storylines, the first being about a boy named Harry Keogh.  Harry begins to develop remarkable talents at school and it soon becomes apparent that his abilities (things like being a mathematical prodigy) come from receiving instruction from the dead.  I loved the concept that the dead are resident within their buried bodies and are desperate to affect the living world.  This desperation means that Harry is constantly engaged in a battle of wits to ensure that his agenda, and not that of the spirit in question, is paramount.  Harry soon becomes the first Necroscope to work for the British paranormal secret service.  Meanwhile, behind the Iron Curtain, Boris Dragosani has a similar power but which requires him to examine the innards of the newly deceased, the power of a necromancer.  As Harry works for the British government, so Boris works for the Russians, but he is also pursuing a personal agenda as he seeks the truth behind the myths of the Romanian vampires.  Boris (and his amusing side-kick, who has the Evil Eye, allowing him to pull a face that instantly kills people!) finds clues that lead him to the mausoleum of one of the 'wamphiri'.  The story eventually brings Harry and Boris into direct conflict and I loved the juxtaposition of necroscope and necromancer; one who befriends the dead and one who tears the dead's secrets from them.  This book is absolutely brilliant, being intelligent, tense and full of action.  A cross between spy thriller and fantasy horror, I can't recommend the book enough.  Also worth a special mention is the brilliantly orchestrated fate that awaits Dragosani, which creates one of the best and most ironic endings that I've read for a long time.

5 out of 5