One day in December, the body of a savagely murdered girl is found in a small village of northern Italy. Ilaria Piatti, a young intern from a local newspaper, connected the crime to terrifying events from the past: the case of the Bottanuco Vampire, a serial killer who strangled women and terrorized the region 100 years ago. For Marco Besana, her much older and experienced writing partner, this is the case he has been waiting for all his life, one with which he could brilliantly close his career. Together they rummage and scour in the dark to find the murderer, but what they don’t know is that darkness is the monster's favorite place to hide.

For the cover design, the editor requested both classic and modern approaches to the noir-thriller genre, while avoiding clichéd images of vampires or blood. While looking for a striking element, our cover cooks pinpointed the needles the killer leaves inserted in his victims’ bodies. A 3D illustration created in-house produced a sinister version of a classical Italian sculpture that in combination with a modern sans serif typeface blends the past and present together – as does the novels' intertwining narrative.