Chuck and Julie Hargrove and their children are still settling into their mountain retreat, in the rugged but upscale hills of Topanga Canyon south of Malibu, and they are slowly discovering that their dream house has some dark and unsavory secrets hidden in its old nooks and crawlspaces. Meanwhile, a vicious but brilliant psychopath, known only as "Zipper" due to a grotesque scar, is making his way from Nebraska to Vegas and on to Southern California and his ultimate destination, the Hargroves' isolated home in Topanga. Zipper's confrontation with the Hargrove family, and his twisted connection to the frustrated Julie, leads to a harrowing and explosive conclusion during a violent thunderstorm and raging flood. Alternately brutal and tender, smart and shocking...and occasionally even hilarious...Zipper is a riveting narrative reminiscent at times of Cape Fear, Desperate Hours, and Pulp Fiction, with a dash of Abbott & Costello.