THE COUNT.
HE DIDN'T CHILL THE BLOOD OF HIS BEAUTIFUL VICTIMS.
HE HEATED IT.

Fifteenth-century Florence. The most dazzling and depraved city in the world. In this Italian capital of power and corruption, art and immortality, intrigue and evil, a stranger appeared, always dressed in black - handsome, sophisticated, charming, fabulously wealthy. No one knew for sure what unnatural rituals went on in his sumptuous palazzo, but everything about him was seductive, compelling, irresistible.

He called himself Count Francesco Ragoczy da San Germano, and as Florence exploded in a frenzy of violence and destruction, the Count used his icy intellect to conquer the minds of men, and branded with fiery passion the willing flesh of women - waiting for the one lover he could possess as his mate for all eternity...

Since 1978, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has produced about two dozen novels and numerous short stories detailing the life of a character first introduced to the reading world as Le Comte de Saint-Germain. We first meet him in Paris during the reign of Louis XV when he is, apparently, a wealthy, worldly, charismatic aristocrat, envied and desired by many but fully known to none. In fact, he is a vampire, born in the Carpathian Mountains in 2119 BC, turned in his late-thirties in 2080 BC and destined to roam the world forever, watching and participating in history and, through the author, giving us an amazing perspective on the time-tapestry of human civilization. In The Palace, Renaissance Florence provides the background for this story of the collapse of the artistic and literary life of the city after the death of San Germano's friend, Lorenzo the Magnificent, followed by the rise of the fanatical Savonarola.

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