On a savage, storm-lashed night, Michael Hrubek — a
dangerously paranoid schizophrenic — escapes from a mental
hospital for the criminally insane by impersonating a dead
man. He's on a mission — to find Lis Atcheson, the woman
whose testimony identified him as the gruesome Indian Leap
State Park murderer. He'll stalk her all the way home,
where she waits in the cool autumn night...surrounded by
her past. For Lis, the chief witness at Hrubek's trial, is
a woman obsessed with the past. Living in the remote New
England house that was her family's summer retreat, she is
struggling to put her life back together after a period of
terrible turmoil — just as Michael Hrubek sets out on his
harrowing quest.
Racing to intercept him are his psychiatrist, Richard
Kohler, a brilliant doctor — but one with his own secrets
to protect; Trenton Heck, a professional dog tracker, with
an uncanny skill for picking up a trail and a desperate
need for the reward money offered for Hrubek's return; and
Lis's husband, Owen Atcheson, a man of uncommon
intelligence and determination — who must hunt Hrubek down
before he can destroy his wife. Yet Michael's madness is
inextricably entwined with his genius — and he proves a
far greater adversary than any of his pursuers
anticipated. For though his mind is tormented by his eerie
delusions of betrayal and revenge, he is crystal clear on
one point: he knows Lis Atcheson better than she knows
herself, and as he hunts her he is bringing a terrible
secret into the light of day.