Horror novelist Luke Sinclair retreats to a small town to finish writing his latest book. No sooner has he arrived, however, than a young woman is murdered in the woods nearby, in circumstances similar to those in his bestselling novel, "Reaper". Faced with increasing pressure from a suspicious local sheriff, as well as the advances of a female FBI investigator, he must uncover the killer before he or she strikes again, further implicating him in the crime.