Descent into Dust

Twenty-five-year-old widow Emma Andrews grew up in the shadow of her mother's madness, so when she arrives at Dulwich Manor in the midst of a mysterious plague and soon thereafter begins to see specters, her family fears fate has finally caught up with her. But one guest among them knows Emma's visions are more than a trick of the mind. Valerian Fox has hunted the great vampire lord Marius through time and across continents, and he knows Emma has a remarkable destiny. She is Dhampir—a vampire hunter.

Surrounded by those who would use her powers for their own ends, Emma does not know who to trust or what she can believe. But when her young cousin is marked for death, she must embrace the terrible inheritance that lies in her very blood to save those she loves.

An extraordinary saga of courage, love, duty, and honor, of darkest destiny and ancient evil . . . and of the shadow of the Dracula himself. It begins.

Publishers Weekly

Old-fashioned vampire fiction—with a little postmodern feminist updating—makes a comeback in this smoothly written debut. In the gray spring of 1862, recently widowed Emma Andrews arrives at remote and dreary Dulwich Manor for a family visit. Cryptic biblical quotes are carved into the walls in odd places, a mysterious “wasting disease” is killing the locals, and Emma's young niece, Henrietta, says she's met a ghost named Marius. Emma fears that she's going insane, just like her mother did, but insanity may be easier to accept than the existence of vampires and the truth about her mother. Lepore successfully captures the mood of traditional gothic fiction, complete with soggy moors, murky religious orders, ancient ruins, dark secrets, and plenty of general mystical weirdness, and complements it with a strong female protagonist for broad reader appeal. (Apr.)