While strolling the misty streets of his beloved Venice in search of a good martini, middle-aged ex-lawyer-turned-artist Brigham Stone sees a man walk through a brick wall. His wife, Rose, blames the booze (doesn't she always?), but his gondolier friend, Mauro, is convinced ghoulish creatures known as “shroud eaters” have returned to Venice after a centuries-long absence.

As Brigham struggles to succeed as an artist in Venice and gain representation in a gallery in the world of Italian protectionism, a rich new patron, Charles Raymond, finds him. Charles seems like a kindly old man with money and a taste for art, but he has other, more sinister, tastes lurking behind his dapper clothes and friendly manner.

Meanwhile, strange things are happening in Venice, and Brigham finds it more difficult to ignore Mauro's shroud eater theory. Bodies, butchered and devoid of blood, are found floating in the canals, and Brigham is attacked by unknown assailants, but when he meets an alluring young woman who introduces him to the world of underground vampire clubs, he can no longer bury his own curiosity.

Drawn into a hidden world of torture, blood, and murder, Brigham must grapple with a hideous evil that on the one hand grants him eternal life, but on the other threatens to claim his humanity, his marriage, and his life.

FROM THE AUTHOR: I write dark fiction and literary horror. Even a book with dark or scary elements should be written in interesting language, and hold the attention of educated people. Consequently, although you could read my work just for the story, there is often metaphor, nuance, and symbolism strewn in. You don't have to have a PhD to read it, but it should provide something for you to think about.

In a former life I practiced law in Maryland (I'm a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court) and served on a nuclear submarine in the Navy. I now live with my wife in Venice, Italy. I also paint.

Drop me a line about anything, and if you come to Venice, look me up.