"Wilhelm's imaginative splicing of SF and horror produces a fast-moving, impelling
story that should appeal to her sizable readership. Recommended."--Library Journal

"Wilhelm is in top form as the thriller plot races along while characters teeter over an abyss of
insanity and loss."--Publishers Weekly

Private investigator Charlie Meiklejohn is called in by insurance companies to follow the trail of a
suspected serial arsonist. The arsonist, Carson Danvers, has been on a fanatical crusade since
the loss of his wife and son, burning down a series of old, shut-up wooden buildings in which
random outbreaks of madness and murder have been occurring. Meiklejohn begins following the
criminal trail, but finds himself teaming up with his quarry to face the source of these strange
outbreaks: a malfunctioning alien space probe.