1850. London. Twilight. A mysterious ship enters the port, with an ominous silence on board. Neither the captain nor the sailors... Soon the figure of a man in all black appears on the deck; his icy gaze reeks of horror and death. The stranger goes ashore and disappears into the city crowd. Following this, a black cloud of eerie winged creatures with glowing red eyes soars from the deck into the night sky. Another minute - and a frightened boy of about twelve years old stealthily descends from the ship...Where did the ill-fated ship come from? Who is this man in black? Why is the boy so scared? And what kind of feathered creatures have infested London? The first book in the spine-chilling Vampires series.