Anne Rice�s magnificent Songs of the Seraphim continues with a lyrical and haunting new novel of angels and assassins set in dark and dangerous worlds�in our time and in centuries past.Toby O�Dare, former government assassin, is summoned by the angel Malchiah to fifteenth-century Rome�the city of Michelangelo and Raphael, of Leo X and the Holy Inquisition�to solve a terrible crime of poisoning and to uncover the secrets of an earthbound restless spirit, a diabolical dybbuk. Toby is plunged into this rich age as a lutist sent to charm and calm this troublesome spirit.In the fullness of the high Italian Renaissance, Toby soon discovers himself in the midst of dark plots and counterplots, surrounded by a still darker and more dangerous threat as the veil of ecclesiastical terror closes in around him. And as he once again embarks on a powerful journey of atonement, he is reconnected with his own past, with matters light and dark, fierce and tender, with the promise of salvation and with a deeper and richer vision of love.