Hatch and Lindsey Harrison have a car accident during a winter blizzard and they are thrown into an icy river. Lindsey has superficial injuries and hypothermia, but Hatch has a head injury and is unconscious. Lindsey keeps him alive in the icy water until help arrives, but Hatch dies on the way to hospital.

Fortunately, a brilliant physician resuscitates him after over an hour by an experimental process aided by the fact that Hatch was hypothermic and thus his tissues had not deteriorated.

Vassago is a degenerate young man who believes he is walking the earth under protest and wishes to go to hell. To achieve this, he kills and arranges the corpses in grotesque manners. Hatch begins seeing through the eyes of Vassago, and the latter sees the life of Hatch.

The crux of the story is the relationship between the two and the changes in Hatch's life. There has to be completion.

For once I found this story a little disappointing. The ideas are great and the characters stunning as usual. The plot is very straightforward and builds over the whole of the book. It is not a "traditional" horror story, but a mystery in the psychological sense. It seemed a little long and drawn out, as the plot was not the sort that moved along at any pace. It took care to read and absorb all the details. But nevertheless he is still my favourite author and I would recommend it as an enjoyable read.