When John McKirrop takes shelter in a deserted graveyard one night, he witnesses the disinterment of the body of a young boy. Yet no one takes much notice of his stories. After all, who would believe the rantings of a homeless drunk? Father Ryan Lafferty, the local priest, is trying to help the boy's distraught father find his son's body. Alarmed by implications of black magic, he becomes even more inquisitive when McKirrop dies under suspicious circumstances. At the same time, a young female doctor, Sarah Lasseter, begins to query procedures at the trauma unit where she treated both the missing boy and McKirrop. Sarah and Father Ryan join forces as it becomes clear that beneath the cover of the noble advancement of medicine there is, ironically, both a sinister and horrific invention and a brilliant discovery - for which someone is prepared to kill, at whatever cost.