An alien beacon from Mars lies buried deep within the ground and wreaks havoc with the minds of the people of a tiny town. The world of cosmic horror in the book is based on a post-industrial wasteland where the quarry stands out as a scary focal point. 

The main characters are smothered in rich backstories—a former NASA scientist's alcoholism because she "lost" the Rover, a teenager running away from her Dad's beatings, and the town's lone police officer not getting over his deceased wife. The the alien threat becomes personal. The beacon's mental manipulation screams alien paranoia. It even creates a violent cult to serve as enforcers. It's goal and plan are simple: control planet Earth by controlling the human mind.