Joe Carpenter, journalist, loses his wife and 2 daughters in a freak aeroplane accident. Unable to cope with the tragedy, he takes time off from work and finds solace in the bottle. Whilst visiting the graves of his family, Joe sees a black woman taking photographs of the same. She is suddenly chased by two men looking suspiciously like government agents.

Joe is alerted and finds that he is also being followed. After visiting other families whose loved ones also perished, he reads that they have all committed suicide in horrific circumstances.

Joe investigates the black woman and those who are following. He has to contend with secrets of untold horror and also wonderful happenings. He also meets a young girl who has been on the aeroplane with the black woman and survived. Knowing the impossibility of this introduces magical and mysterious circumstances.

Another wondrous Dean Koontz story. He can use one word in description where other novelist use 3, and still hold ones attention. His detail is superb and the story riveting. It is not a horror story, nor a true sf, but more a mystery with fantasy overtones, and wholly believable. The characters live in the mind of the reader. A book impossible to put down.