Acquainted With the Night
Book I
Coming November 29, 2011
Berkley
Coming November 29, 2011
Berkley
The pages of history are written in the blood of the undead…
A woman’s quest for the truth…
A medieval icon that holds the clues…
An ancient book with the power to shake Christianity—and humanity itself…
Caroline Clifford’s bland life as a London tour guide flips upside down when her beloved uncle is brutally murdered at a Bulgarian archeological site. While traveling to recover his remains, she meets a man who corresponded with her uncle. Jude Barrett is a biochemist on a mission—to eradicate the world of vampires…
At first, Caro is dismissive of Jude’s beliefs, but she can’t ignore the signs around her—the human bites on her uncle, the strange men following her, the anguished cries after sundown. Strange anagrams on her uncle’s passport lead her and Jude to a cliff-top monastery in Greece, where a shattering revelation connects a relic Caro inherited from her parents to an age-old text on immortality—and an enigmatic prophecy that pits the forces of darkness and light in a showdown that could destroy them all…
Acquainted with evil…
“You can’t kill me, old fool,” Georgi said.
Old fool? Caro twisted her head. The monk stood in the doorway, aiming a crossbow.
“Caroline, move out of the way,” Father Aeneas said, his voice low and controlled. Smoke billowed above his head and scattered into the dark. The feeling was creeping back into Caro's limbs. Gritting her teeth, she flattened her shoulders against the balcony rail.
The arrow whizzed through the air and thudded into Georgi’s chest. It made a hollow sound, like thumping a melon. His long fingers curled around the shaft. Blood surged around his fist and streamed down the front of her trousers. A second arrow slammed into his chest, inches from the first. He staggered backward across the terrace and toppled over the rail. Caro’s arms tingled as she rose up and peered over the ledge. Georgi rolled down the embankment. Cracking noises echoed as his body plowed through brush and stumpy trees.
“Vrykolakas,” Father Aeneas said.
Until now, Caro had not known how to pronounce that word. It sounded sinister yet exotic on the holy man’s tongue: vree KO la Kahss. Vampire.
Piper Maitland lives on a Tennessee farm with her family. She has also written books under the name Michael Lee West. Visit her website at www.pipermaitland.com and look for her on Facebook.
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