The New Jersey State Police had started calling him Howdy Doody, after the famous TV puppet of the 1950s. Three people had been killed in northern New Jersey, then three in Manhattan, and another in the Bronx, in a thirteen-month period. All of them were found hung up with strings attached to their limbs, like puppets. Finally the murderer was caught in New York City. But several months later, State Police detective Mo Ford finds another victim, killed...

Nothing in Cree's training as a Harvard-trained clinical psychologist or her experience as a paranormal investigator has prepared her for Tommy Keeday's case. A talented young Navajo, Tommy has recently been exhibiting bizarre symptoms that his family believes are signs of possession by a chindi, a hostile spirit. As Cree struggles to find answers, she becomes increasingly aware that Tommy and the people who surround him have some deep and disturbing...