A Beast in Venice

Librarian's Note: this is an alternate cover edition - ISBN 10: 0988478471 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.