by Tim Powers
First published 1991
Michael Crawford awakens to find his new wife slaughtered in their marriage bed. The blood and violence point to him as the killer, but Crawford knows a darker truth. A vampire has marked him as her chosen mate and eliminated his human bride to clear the path. Now Crawford must run from two pursuers: the authorities who want him for murder, and the undead creature who considers him her rightful husband. His flight becomes a desperate race to prove his innocence while staying ahead of a supernatural predator. The vampire will not give up her claim easily, and Crawford discovers that escaping her embrace may cost him more than his life. The hunter becomes the hunted as Crawford realizes that some bonds transcend death itself. His struggle to survive forces him to confront the terrible price of being chosen by darkness.
Genres: 20th-century, fantasy, horror, supernatural, 19th-century, gothic
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: supernatural-predator, the-hunted
431 pages · Paperback · HarperCollins
Content warnings: murder, violence