Just when everything is going beautifully for archaeologist Emma Fielding — a position at a respected university, a beautiful home in New England, and the warm love of a devoted husband — her world starts to crumble. What begins as a series of seemingly innocent gestures — the anonymous delivery of gifts and flowers to Emma's family and friends — soon progresses to secret, sadistic acts designed to destroy her reputation, her character, and her career.

Someone has instituted a brilliantly insidious campaign of personal terror against Emma Fielding, and she is certain she knows who it is: a cunning and dangerous enemy whom everyone but she believes is dead. But with no proof, no clues, and no allies, Emma will have to fight alone in the dark to rescue a life being rapidly reduced to ashes . . . if she can survive long enough to do so.