Adam Carter has begun checking the locks on his doors again and again. Are they securely fastened? Is the alarm set properly? He’s never quite satisfied that everything is in order. And so he feels compelled to check yet again. He feels for his wallet and then confirms that each and every piece of paper, credit card and cash is perfectly in order and safely in its place.

He’s had these obsessive thoughts before, but for Adam, a successful Washington lobbyist, they have in recent years been merely a sometimes annoyance, a quirkiness. Now, the checking behaviors threaten to debilitate him. So Adam pays a visit to his old psychiatrist, who frankly is not overjoyed to see him. Doctor Rogoff can diagnose Adam’s symptoms and prescribe the latest in medication, but Adam cannot-will not-fully accept the need for treatment. Adam knows the true cause of his problems is not to be found in a diagnostic manual. It is the Horla, a creature straight out of a Guy de Maupassant tale. These two first met in Adam’s youth, within a dusty old volume at the local library, Later, somehow, the Horla, managed to make Adam its victim. Now the Horla is stronger, more active than ever before and intent on destroying Adam’s world. Adam must fight the creature, but how? .

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By chance, Adam has met a woman, Miranda. She’s bright and attractive, and willing to put up with Adam’s eccentricity-to a point. He’s intrigued. More importantly, however, it is through her that Adam sees a way out of his problems and back to a reasonably normal existence. But the Horla is lurking. Maybe he’s in the next room, perhaps he’s downstairs. Adam can’t tell. With the help of a new ally, a Doberman named Willie, Adam plans for a final confrontation to vanquish the Horla and regain his life.

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