In the quaint tourist town of Loon Lake, Michigan, a killer is taking his vengeance. One by one, the bodies are found, brutally executed with mysteriously coded death cards placed beside each corpse -- the gruesome signature of a psychopath. And the only sounder louder than doors being locked against evil is the sound of hearts beating in terror.

Detective Louis Kincaid had come north looking for a refuge, a place to forget the horrors of his past. But now he's landed in the middle of an investigation that's more than a mystery. It's a warning of bad things to come... of a terrifying journey through a town's fiercely protected heart of darkness... and into the nightmare mind of a madman...