Scottish college student Mandy Meadows is still reeling from the discovery that the people of Southampton, thanks to the act of sabotage committed by the unhinged Jennyfer De Villiers, can turn themselves invisible at will, and become 'The Missing'. Increasingly under siege, both whilst working with youngsters in her studies and trying to help her fellow students in the union, she goes to watch a local band perform and is surprisingly captivated by one band, led by an enigmatic frontman with personal issues of his own.

With the wry, eloquent, but somewhat shady Lucas - who is nominally in charge of capturing The Missing - showing her little attention, and apparently more concerned with what Jennyfer may be doing than her own wellbeing, Mandy uses this opportunity to bond again with the housemates she was feeling alienated from - however when she discovers that two of them are taking their attraction to the next level her confidence is knocked. Even her attempts to help a bullied girl from campus seem as doomed to fail as her friendships.

Mandy's attempts to help others put her in even graver peril in this adventure, where it becomes clear to her that people are not quite as they seem and their words cannot always be trusted. When she is lured to Southampton Common in the books finale, she will find herself facing the ultimate threat from those whom she trusts as well as those she mistrusts.