Melmoth's Chain

When the past refuses to stay buried, the future demands a terrible price.

John Melmoth's life is falling apart. His pandemic research is failing, his funding is running out, and his relationship is strained to breaking point. Then a mysterious inheritance draws him to a remote Irish estate, where he discovers a family secret that spans eight centuries.

His ancestor—the original John Melmoth—made a bargain in 1217 that granted him supernatural knowledge and extended life, but cursed him to wander the earth seeking a successor. Now, as his time runs out, the ancient wanderer has finally found his target: a descendant whose noble intentions and scientific desperation mirror his own.

With the help of Marcus, a researcher who has spent years documenting the wanderer's methods, John must uncover the strategies that have allowed others to resist supernatural temptation. Through historical case studies spanning centuries, they race to understand how community, love, and human connection might break a chain of damnation that has held their family captive for eight hundred years.

A contemporary reimagining of Charles Maturin's Gothic masterpiece Melmoth the Wanderer, this novel weaves together medieval horror and modern science in a tale of good intentions, terrible choices, and the redemptive power of love. Literary horror that explores what happens when salvation becomes damnation.

Some family legacies are written in blood. This one ends here.