Late one night after a strange journey to Whitechapel in East London, Paul makes a new friend, John Redman—daring and enigmatic, just as Paul longs to be, away from his cloying mother (his only family, so he thinks). Redman immediately charms Paul as well as Jude—a girl they meet on a night on the town. A few days later, Paul learns that Jude has mysteriously died, and Redman has disappeared. Soon after, one of Paul's teachers dies suddenly—frightened to death—near where Jude's body was found. Paul senses that Redman is involved. His new friend is dangerous. But so, we learn, is Paul. In uncovering the truth about Redman he learns shocking facts about himself. There's an evil curse loose in his family and Paul is the latest inheritor. The spree of death—camouflaged as copycat Jack the Ripper-style murders—will continue until Paul confronts the demon in himself head on.
