Vampires . . . they ache, they love, they thirst for the forbidden. They are your friends and lovers, and your worst fears.

"A major new voice in horror fiction . . . an electric style and no shortage of nerve."-Booklist

At a club in Missing Mile, N.C., the children of the night gather, dressed in black, look for acceptance. Among them are Ghost, who sees what others do not; Ann, longing for love; and Jason, whose real name is Nothing, newly awakened to an ancient, deathless truth about his father, and himself.

Others are coming to Missing Mile tonight. Three beautiful, hip vagabonds-Molochai, Twig, and the seductive Zillah, whose eyes are as green as limes-are on their own lost journey, slaking their ancient thirst for blood, looking for supple young flesh.

They find it in Nothing and Ann, leading them on a mad, illicit road trip south to New Orleans. Over miles of dark highway, Ghost pursues, his powers guiding him on a journey to reach his destiny, to save Ann from her new companions, to save Nothing from himself. . . .

"An important and original work . . . a gritty, highly literate blend of brutality and sentiment, hope and despair."-Science Fiction Chronicle