Sin Made Flesh : The Parable of the Vampire

Sin was made flesh and dwelt among us? Isolated in a Prussian forest in the depths of winter 1639, the Hiller family hides in their farmhouse from the depredation of the Thirty Years' War. The parents, Anton and Klara, and their lonely adolescent son, Augustin, give shelter to an apparently wellborn damsel, Adala, after soldiers have sacked her village. Caring for this ravaged stranger inflicts even greater strain on the Hillers who can barely endure one another since cold security and emotional distance have replaced faith and love in their home, making Augustin vulnerable to the vampire Adala?s seduction. Discovering the marks of Adala's clandestine assault on Augustin leads Klara to a fit of violence against the girl who she now believes to be a witch. Anton, insisting on a more rational explanation for Augustin?s malady, locks Klara away, suspecting her of madness. Attributing Adala's miraculous ability to heal from seemingly lethal injuries to her perceived nobility, Anton tries to curry favor with her. New fears arrive when a mysterious English mercenary, Colonel Osgood Last, appears at the farmhouse searching for Adala; he is armed with a stake and a suspiciously deep knowledge of the occult. Anton must decide who the real enemy is: Adala or Last?  A hunt through the forest to Sicherstadt, where Adala had been worshiped as a living goddess until Last's regiment destroyed the place, uncovers heinous secrets; meanwhile Klara may be forced to make a torturous choice between her moribund son and God.