James Kirkwood is obsessed with the Hartman house across the street. Each night he notices the lights are on in every room. Once a light goes off though it never comes back on
A worried Kirkwood calls the police who find a shocking sight: four bodies lined up next to each other on individual blankets three teenagers and a middle-aged woman each with a bullet through the head. Upstairs they find an elderly woman also shot through the head and the family dog similarly murdered. Missing is John Hartman husband/father/son.

Through the eyes of almost two dozen characters the reader pieces together how these shocking murders affect the community how John Hartman makes his escape and maybe even why he committed these gruesome crimes.