A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect -monsters- are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, U.S. Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer.
But some monsters are very real--and even to speak their name can earn you a death sentence. The bogeymen of the vampire world, The Harlequin, are here in America hunting weretigers and human police. But Edward thinks the serial killings are just a trap--to lure Anita ever closer to the most dangerous vampire they've ever...

When a fifteen-year-old girl is abducted by vampires, it's up to U.S. Marshal Anita Blake to find her. And when she does, she's faced with something she's never seen before: a terrifyingly ordinary group of people--kids, grandparents, soccer moms--all recently turned and willing to die to avoid serving a master. And where there's one martyr, there will be more...
But even vampires have monsters that they're afraid of. And Anita is one of them...