It starts when the body of a young woman disappears from the local morgue. Then more corpses, dead from an inexplicable disease that solidified their blood, also vanish. Soon the U.S. government - and eventually biomedical researchers, disgruntled lawmakers, and even an insurgent faction of the Catholic Church - must come to terms with what they're too late to stop: an epidemic of vampirism that will sweep the world.

With heightened strength and beauty and a steady diet of fresh blood, these changed people, or "Gloamings", rapidly rise to prominence in all aspects of modern society. Soon people are begging to be "re-created", willingly accepting the risk of death if their bodies can't handle the transformation.

As new communities of Gloamings arise, society is divided, and popular Gloaming sites come under threat from a secret terrorist organisation. But when a charismatic and wealthy businessman, recently turned, runs for political office - well, all hell breaks loose...