Schoolteacher Jim Ironheart flies on an impulse to Portland, Oregon. There he risks his life to save a child from being killed. Reporter Holly Thorne - burnt out, cynical, and looking for a life beyond journalism - witnesses his bravery, and soon realises she is on to the biggest story of her life. Discovering that Jim has quietly performed twelve last-minute rescues in far-flung places over the past four months, Holly traces him to California. She can't accept the explanation he gives - he simply believes that God is working through him - for to her, there is no great mystery or wonder in life. She is dead wrong. For she and Jim are quickly plunged into a dark sea of wonder, mystery - and stark terror. And, on the run for their lives, they will be forced to confront a savage and uncannily powerful adversary...