The Book of Common Dread

Nobody in Princeton suspects Vincent DeVilbiss to be anything more harmful than a charlatan psychic with an exotic name - but technology has done a lot for the assimilation of the modern vampire. Tinted contacts hide amber eyes, sunscreen deflects harmful rays, and the anonymity of catalog shopping has made it possible to move beyond the traditional cape. Yet even with these modern devices, DeVilbiss is losing ground in his mission to retard the scientific and spiritual advancement of the human race. At Princeton University he faces the direst challenge of his five hundred years: He must destroy an ancient and heavily protected cuneiform scroll, being translated for the first time, before its apocalyptic powers are turned against him and all the overlords of the underworld. Athwart his path is Simon Penn, a young rare-books curator, who is in love with the alluring and tragic woman DeVilbiss has targeted to help him get access to the manuscript. Piecing together DeVilbiss's identity, Simon must extinguish this seemingly unstoppable emissary of doom. This is an extraordinary, thought-provoking novel, and a brilliantly successful entertainment.