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, both US Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer. But some monsters are very real. The Harlequin have been the bogeymen of the vampire world for more than a thousand years. Now they are here in America, hunting both weretigers and human police. They serve the Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire - supposedly dead, but only her body was destroyed. Now the Mother needs a new body and has decided that Anita's body is the one she wants. Edward thinks the serial killings are a trap to lure Anita closer to the most dangerous vampire they've ever hunted. The vampires call Edward 'Death' and Anita 'the Executioner', but the Mother of All Darkest is coming to kill one and possess the other, and she doesn't care how many others have to die along the way.
