Saved from a mugger, a young woman runs into the arms of a madman.

On her way to meet a friend for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in a seedy part of downtown Denver, Valerie Rowe gets tackled from behind. When she's back on her feet, her purse is gone, and the teenager who took it is sprinting down the street. She chases after him, but knows it's hopeless — right until her mugger runs into Leonard. This quiet young man refuses a reward for retrieving her purse, but accepts an invitation to lunch. Though she doesn't know it, Valerie's moment of politeness could prove fatal.

Leonard never talks to girls besides his mother, and no one so beautiful as Valerie has ever even looked at him before. Instantly in love, he begins courting her obsessively, graduating quickly from love notes and flowers to arson and, perhaps, murder. He is fixated on Valerie, and will allow no law to stand in his way.