Lindsey Nagel is polyphobic. She's afraid of needles, heights, and crowds. And yet, when a friend suggests she join the Essence of Life Society, a group of wannabe vampires, she agrees. But it's not her blood they're after. It's her life. Detective Giorgio Salvatori is joined by his brother, Rocky, his intrepid sidekick, Grosvenor, and the ghost of young Christian Maynard to solve this case. It will take them far beyond a group of people living in the shadows; it will lead them to drug trafficking, a vicious dogfighting ring, and a heroic, but mysterious pit bull, named Shadow.