Detroit detective Sam Smith has been hired to locate young Chicagoan Donnie Bishop. With no explanation, it appears Donnie has disappeared from the face of the earth and Sam's journey to find him results in a frightening adventure of psychology and the occult set against the dark alleys and decaying streets of Chicago. The difficulty of the case is tied to the obvious deception of the women in Donnie's life, and Sam uncovers inappropriate and eerie relations involving his wife, grandmother and therapist. Not certain whether he has descended into a scam or a cover-up, Sam's difficulty with carrying out the case is compounded with his own worsening medical condition. The deeper Sam falls into this abyss of shadows the more frightening the case becomes, revealing a web of intrigue and obsession involving rogue police detectives, brutal thugs and a beautiful and murderous mystery woman who will stop at nothing to keep Sam from uncovering the truth - a truth that is too strange for anyone ...