A brutal struggle of wills escalates into a mystical war of souls. Seventeen-year-old Marian Hawthorn knows more about Asperger's than she ever wanted to. But she loves her brother Henry, and wants to keep him safe. However, her parents obsess about finding a cure for him?no matter the cost in money or convictions?and that obsession draws them all under the control of Pastor Andervender and his fringe church in Albuquerque. There she finds an unexpected friend and ally in her struggle to protect her brother: John, the pastor's most beloved son, over whom a dangerous shadow looms that draws ever closer.