Burning Shadows

A passionate wartime love affair haunts Yarbro’s 21st Saint-Germain novel (after 2008’s A Dangerous Climate ). Yarbro returns to her heroic vampire in 438 C.E., when he was known as Dom Feranescus Rakoczy Sanctu-Germainios, Regional Guard of Apulum Inferior. Series fans will welcome the reappearance of Atta Olivia Clemens, the count’s former lover, but she soon departs the Carpathians for Constantinople. More compelling is Nicoris, an attractive refugee whom Rakoczy meets en route to Sanctu-Eustachios, a hermit monastery where slaves, soldiers and refugees hope to survive the impending Hun attack. Nicoris quickly falls under Rakoczy’s spell, fascinated by the revelation of his true nature, but she has a dangerous secret that may spell doom for their future. Yarbro’s impeccable research enhances but doesn’t distract from the romance, which is diminished only by the sad, too-brief epilogue. (Dec.)