A favor for a friend puts Anita Blake in the center of a full-blown scandal that threatens master vampire Jean- Claude's reign-and makes her a pawn in an ancient vampire queen's new rise to power.

When a vampire serial killer sends Anita Blake a grisly souvenir from Las Vegas, she has to warn Sin City's local authorities what they're really dealing with.

Assassins are coming to St. Louis to kill master vampire Jean-Claude, necromancer Anita Blake, and werewolf Richard Zeeman. Anita knows they're coming, but even being forewarned doesn't mean the triumvirate will win.

"The wedding of the century between vampire hunter Anita Blake and the vampire king of America Jean-Claude is almost here, but an ancient evil arrives in St. Louis and even Jean-Claude's unmatched power isn't enough to save them. Only with the return of a lost love can they hope to combat the monster and save their loved ones and every vampire in the country from being consumed by darkness"--

Vampire hunter Anita Blake is forced into an uneasy alliance with Edward, a bounty hunter specializing in the preternatural, as she searches for a mysterious and evil force that maims, kills, and vanishes into the night without a trace.

"Evil continues to rain down on a vampire hunter and those she most cherishes in this new, gripping novel in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series by New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton. Anita Blake is finally ready to marry Jean-Claude, the vampire king of America. But first, they must tackle a new, daunting challenge: her family. And with the ancient evil that cast a shadow on St. Louis still lurking and threatening to destroy...

The human consort of Master Vampire Jean-Claude and Micah, the leopard shapeshifter, Anita Blake must come to Jean-Claude's assistance when his oldest ancestor sends one of her vicious and powerful underlings to St. Louis.

It's up to Anita to prove Richard's innocence when he is jailed on assault charges, but in doing so she pits herself against corrupt cops and the Master Vampire, Jean-Claude, who threatens her and her friends.

"Rafael, king of the wererats, must fight to the death to defend his crown. He wants Anita Blake, one of his closest allies, with him as he faces an opponent unlike any he's faced before. He will ask Anita to risk everything to be at his side...."--Publisher's description.