"In a satanic bargain, Melmoth has sold his soul in exchange for immortality and now preys on the helpless in their darkest moments, offering to ease their suffering if they will take his place and release him from his tortured wanderings. His story is pieced together by those who have glimpsed his eerie existence over the centuries--from a prisoner in the clutches of the Spanish Inquisition to a man incarcerated in a London lunatic asylum."--