After his beloved mother passes away suddenly, Jay Turner finds himself at a crossroads. She was always secretive, and when he returns to their Boston home to clear out her possessions, he finds an unusual item: a partially burned scrap of newspaper bearing the name ‘Gael Brogan.’ Soon after, a deliveryman leaves behind a package containing a small antique volume bound in leather-and two bloody footprints. The sight of the volume is chilling. As a young scholar, his mother had been given the medieval book-one of a set commissioned by Vlad Tepes, otherwise known as Dracula, just before his death in 1477. She’d always warned Jay of the dangers associated with it, and had donated it to a museum before she died . . . yet here it is, back in his possession. Jay sets out to learn more about Gael Brogan, a prominent nineteenth-century actor whose last and most famous role was based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. As Jay begins to dig deeper-with the help of a mysterious woman named Rhiannon-he uncovers the frightening story of a young actress who fell under Brogan’s sway long ago. Before long, Jay and Rhiannon realize that something similarly implacable is pursuing them.
