Vivian Black awakes in a coffin fifty years away from her earliest memories, but that is only the beginning of the horror awaiting her. Soon she discovers she is a vampire wanted by a deadly, international cult of the undead--the Shévet ha Dam, or Blood Tribe. Her pursuer? Joseph Cartephilus, the father of the vampire race. With a new, handsome friend Michael, a young vampire who has vowed to protect her, Vivian flees for her life. But nowhere is far enough for them to escape her past and the Shévet ha Dam.