[1] In Victorian London, widowed Dr. John Gladstone runs over a beautiful young man named Niccolo Cavalanti with his carriage.

Accompanied by Lady Hespeth Dunaway, a woman whose son was also abducted by Niccolo, Gladstone sets off to find his daughter.

The Delicate Dependency was published by Avon Books on March 28, 1982, and eventually went out of print.

[4] Publishers Weekly called The Delicate Dependency "ambitious, "impressive", and "unflaggingly interesting.”[3] Whitley Strieber noted of the novel, "The tension builds page by page to a stunning climax ...

I doubt that I will ever forget it.”[3] Fangoria named The Delicate Dependency as one of its "Top 10 Vampire Novels" in 1992.