Children of the Night

by Dan Simmons

Kate Neuman, a brilliant hematologist, is in post-Ceaucescu Romania to lend her expertise in the treatment of rare blood diseases. Her most baffling case is that of a seven-month-old boy who requires biweekly transfusions to survive. Kate soon realizes that baby Joshua is nothing less than a miracle child, and that his unique immune system holds the key to a cure for cancer and AIDS, as well as tremendous potential for extending human life. Kates manages to adopt Joshua and bring him home with her, but is forced to return to Romania when Joshua is kidnapped. Pursued by mysterious, superhuman thugs, she and her friend Father O'Rourke embark on an odyssey that brings them face to face with the historical Vlad Dracula.

Paperback Warner Books (1993)