Something's going on in the sleepy little sugarcane town of Hickory. A disturbing light shining down by the river. Two nasty road accidents, one after the other. Then Jack Sanders' mother is found dead on her living room floor, her face a mask of unspeakable terror. And no-one's seen young Ainslie McGregor since he went off on a dare to meet his best friend at the local graveyard. Slowly, inexorably, communication with the outside world breaks down, and Hickory becomes a Place to Fear.