Richard Matheson
Robert Neville is the last man on Earth, a place taken over by vampires. The book starts about a year after the outbreak has taken over most living things and turned them into vampires. Robert spends most of his time trying to survive and drink away his pain. He is constantly being beckoned by the vampires. His old coworker, Ben Cortman is the first one to his door every night. There are also female vampires trying to draw him out with their calls of seduction. In between he gives glimpses into his past life with his wife, Virginia, and daughter, Kathy. He goes into great detail about Virginia's death: how she was supposed to be burned according to the law, how he secretly buried her, and how she returned for him. Usually after these sort of memories, Robert would end up drinking whiskey. He would usually wake up the next day and continue one of his projects (gathering garlic bulbs, replacing mirrors, making wooden stakes).
Eventually, Robert starts researching what has caused what he calls "vampiris." He finds that it is a bacteria that is sensitive to sunlight and starts researching the other symptoms. While this is going on, Robert sees a dog out on the street. He earns its trust enough get it to eat food he puts out on the porch. However, by the time the dog trusts him, it has gotten sick. Robert brings it inside to try to help it, but he fails and the dog dies. After a few drunken nights and days, he ends up pouring himself back into his research. He ends up finding logical reasons for each of the vampire's weaknesses (allergy to the smell of garlic, crosses and mirrors being psychological, etc)
About a year later, Robert is outside and sees a female human, Ruth, out in the field. He yells to her, but she is scared and runs away. He chases her down and eventually catches her. She tries to fight him off, but he ends up taking her to his house eventually. He is so stunned by another human, that he lets the holes in her story slip. He is determined to cure her, but she is nervous about the whole thing. They spend a night in each other's arms where Robert tells all about his life. Eventually, Robert is able to get a blood sample from Ruth. She begs him not to look at the blood, but it is too late. She knocks him unconscious and runs away, leaving only a note. In it, she explains that the vampires don't need blood (just a pill) and warning him about the vampire society that will eventually come after him. Robert decides that he needs to stay.
The vampires eventually come for him, just as Ruth said they would. They break down his door and find him. However, Robert got very nervous in all the commotion and started shooting at them. They incapacitate him and take them back with them. Ruth comes to where he is being held and explains that he was not supposed to be hurt when they came for him. She tells him that the vampires are scared of him because he kills their kind during the day while they cannot protect themselves. He says that he understands that he needs to die for the society to move on