There had always been the Running Man - always that phantom form somewhere in the distance, always shuffling relentlessly closer . . .

For a long time, fourteen-year-old Joseph has wondered about old Tom Leyton, his reclusive next-door neighbor. Gossip and rumors suggest that something terrible happened to Tom in the past.

Then Joseph is asked to draw Tom for a school art project, and that means Joseph has the opportunity to uncover the truth about this man who passes his days tending silkworms and keeping dark secrets.

As Joseph learns more and more about Tom's world, he is forced to confront his own fears. Is there some connection between Joseph's dreams and his feelings about his father, who seems to have abandoned the family? And why does he continue to have nightmares about the Running Man - the disheveled figure who wanders aimlessly through town?