Paul Hereford does not feel like someone who is coming home. As he turns onto the two-lane road leading into his hometown-Chouteauville, Missouri-he has no idea he is about to embark on a life-changing odyssey that will bring him both heartache and a redemption he didn't know he needed.

After decades of a political life and a literary career on the East Coast, Paul buys a plot of land in Chouteauville and settles in his new haven to write one more book. He is the author of numerous obscure novels, but now he's trying something he's never done before: serious nonfiction.

As he seeks out former friends and new acquaintances, however, the writing becomes more difficult, the memories become clearer, and the characters become more familiar. Paul's childhood best friend, his high school crush, and the little neighbor girl are just a few of the people that create the seasoned writer's new world-and help him understand exactly what he needs.

"The Vampires of Eden" shares one man's evocative journey of atonement and the pursuit of peace as he discovers the past is never really past.

It began very incidentally. One odd occurrence after another. Then came the dreams. And then the apparitions. Alexandra and Stephanie had figured something was wrong early on. Then, one bright Saturday morning, Johanna appeared. Chased into her apartment and hiding in a locked downstairs bathroom, Alex knew that the worst thing that ever happened to her had just made its appearance. From then on, the events and dreams became more and more frequent, even following them to Galveston, where they discovered the foul, evil heart of the disturbances, unbeknownst to them, of course. Taking one step at a time, Alex and Paul use their experience and knowledge from years past to try to put an end to the mounting disturbances, but their efforts fail because nothing seems to fit. There is no Stehle's door. There is no trigger for the door. There is only Johanna, growing more terrible, more vicious, and more determined to destroy Alex and the others. Her motives are a complete mystery, or are they. The search for a key to Johanna, as well as to the others, leads to one dead end after another. And then there was Billy...

Paul Hereford does not feel like someone who is coming home. As he turns onto the two-lane road leading into his hometown-Chouteauville, Missouri-he has no idea he is about to embark on a life-changing odyssey that will bring him both heartache and a redemption he didn't know he needed.