A series of seemingly random murders along a fifty-mile stretch of the
rugged northern California coast, committed by an unknown dubbed by the
media the Coastline Killer. A young couple with marital problems, Shelby
and Jay Macklin, who decide to spend the week between Christmas and New
Year's at a friend's remote coastal cottage. Two couples in a
neighboring home whose relationships are thick with festering menace. A
fierce winter storm that leads to a night of unrelenting terror. These
are the main ingredients in Bill Pronzini's chilling and twist-filled
tale about the hidden nature of crime and its motives.