After ten years in hiding, Valerie Hardy decides to fight back against the man who has terrorized her since she was eight years old. However, she has no idea how many different evils exist in the world. Detective Tom Gray, in searching for a now-missing Valerie, has his life of indifference and detachment torn open for all to see. His pain (and the investigation) spirals out of control when the man who has terrorized Valerie turns his attention to Gray. The thrilling culmination of events pushes Valerie toward her own inner darkness and nearly breaks Gray's already fragile state of mind. Valerie and Gray find the demons and monsters that chisel away at their lives prove quite simply to be human after all.