A John Doe's body goes missing, so, out of duty, Dr. Carrie Ames searches for it at the hospital morgue, but soon she wishes she had never found it. Mr. Does comes back to "life" and attacks her. She survives, but is different. Putting two and two together, she realizes she's a vampire, a fact confirmed when a wannabe vampire hunter attacks her. Fortunately, Ziggy is not a very good vampire hunter, and his foster father, Nathan, is a very good vampire.

Nathan explains to Carrie what has happened and offers her a choice, join the Voluntary Vampire Extinction Movement, or be sentenced to death. Before Carrie can completely make up her mind, Nathan is poisoned by magic and the only antidote lies with her sire, Cyrus. Carrie is forced to trade her life for Nathan's, an exchange that could destroy her soul and Nathan's potential love. Broken hearts, literally and metaphorically, are major issues, but pale in comparison to the threat posed by the Soul Eater.

There is a hard edge to this story, but that does not prevent it from having touching moments. Every character is drawn in vivid detail, driving the action from point to point in a way that never lets up. There is little humor, but the funny moments are there as well. Many familiar vampire novel elements comprise this book, but the ingredients are mixed in a very different way from the norm. It works quite well.