The formerly prosperous paper mill town of Bedford, Maine, has fallen on hard times. With the mill closed, nobody's making ends meet. What's worse, lately the people are dreaming about Susan Marley, a young woman fallen from grace whom they pity and fear.

No one talks about the dreams even though they all share them. It's a delicate balance. An unspoken devil's pact. But when Susan mysteriously dies during a weeklong rainstorm, those nightmares start to come true. Only the guilt-riddled people who once loved Susan can guess at what's happening, or act to stop it.