The military, in its infinite wisdom, decides to make an immortal supersoldier. Instead, they accidentally make vampires. Oops. Worse than that, they make them out of death row inmates so when they flip outta control, they really flip out of control. This is the sort of stupidity that ought to go on the Evil Overlord List. These are not sexy, sparkly vampires; they're lean, mean killing/vampire makin' machines. When the immortality virus finally takes properly, on a little girl, it's too late. 100 years later the girl reappears to a very small colony of survivors (as the vampires, or, as the book calls them virals or dracs, have taken over at least most of North America) there is hope for the human race again. 
 There are remarkable resemblances here to King's _The Stand_. A virus that kills off most of humanity? Check. Pilgrimage to Colorado? Check. Mysterious yet benevolent elderly black women? This story has TWO of them And you know how much I love vampire books (not). 
 And yet? This was an gripping book. Cronin writes very well, providing depth to all the characters, even the scummy ones. And the plot us crackalicious, also like Stephen King, which is good because this is a long book.