Anne Rice's extraordinary new novel summons the world of fifteenth-century Rome: a city of beauty and terror, of art and sin. In this extraordinary setting Toby O'Dare, former government assassin, is called upon by the angel Malchiah, to solve a terrible crime of poisoning and to seek out the truth behind the presence of an earthbound restless spirit - a diabolical dybbuk - that is causing chaos in the city.

Toby is plunged into the luscious world of the Italian Renaissance, sent to charm and calm this troublesome spirit. But he soon discovers himself in the midst of dark plots and surrounded by a darker and more dangerous threat as the veil of ecclesiastical terror closes in around him.

As Toby once again embarks on a powerful journey of atonement, he is reconnected with his own past, with matters light and dark, fierce and tender, with the promise of salvation and with a deeper and richer vision of love.