<p><i>We followed the fresh blood even though every molecule in my body was screaming for me to run. Run before dark. Run before the vampires come. Run.</i><br><br>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, US Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer. <br><br>But some monsters are very real. The Harlequin have been the bogeymen of the vampire world for more than a thousand years; they are a secret so dark that even to speak their name can earn you a death sentence. Now they are here in America, hunting weretigers, and human police. <br><br>The Harlequin serve the Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire. She was supposed to be dead, but only her body was destroyed. Now she needs a new one, and she''s decided that Anita Blake''s is the body she wants. Edward thinks the serial killings are a trap to lure Anita clos