In a unique blend of modern murder, ancient mystery and political thriller set in Washington, DC, the novel picks up the story of secret diarist who calls himself Valerian and claims to have lived for centuries and amassed the knowledge required to seize power on Capitol Hill. To him it's a game, but to those who cross him it's ruination and death. A young congressional aide, Carl Dantz, discovers more than he dares to admit about a plot to shake the foundations of the government and about the timeless being who conceived it. When Carl is sent back to his congressman's remote West Virginia district, where a mysterious Night Snatcher is on the prowl, he reconnects with the world of backwoods superstitions he left years ago, as well as with the lover he left behind. While Valerian plots and writes of murders that span the centuries, from ancient Rome through the French Revolution, the modern killings of a serial predator follow Carl back to the streets of nation's capital. From the dark Appalachian mountains to the hidden world underlying Washington's corridors of power, a monumental game is played out at a critical moment in history. Major political figures are drawn in as Carl, his re-discovered lover and a deaf-mute boy race to unmask and defeat a ruthless opponent who claims to have matched wits with Machiavelli, while a national crisis reaches a climax under the Capitol dome with mankind's Dark Companion.