Famed sculptor Clare Kimball has commanded the attention of the New York art world, but troubling memories from childhood have drawn her home to Maryland, to the town where she grew up and where her father died so long ago in circumstances never really explained. Nothing much has changed in Emmitsboro--except Cameron Rafferty, the onetime high school bad boy turned town sheriff. The only hint of Cam's wild nature is the light in his eyes when he looks at Clare. In Cam's strong arms Clare is seduced into falling in love--and believing that her small-town world is safe.

But within the dark woods of Emmitsboro, something evil is spreading its poisonous power. Now Clare must pay the price for digging up the secrets of the past . . . and confront an evil that may be unstoppable--because those who practice it believe it is divine.