Tired of his frantic life in the city, Richard Haley returns to his home-town in the countryside to begin a more peacful life. His new house backs onto the Blackhart Forest, which he remembers with great affection as he spent much of his childhood playing there. He now intends to enjoy the forest through his frequent runs but this simple hobby soon leads to obsession as he continues to encounter a mysterious barefooted girl who leads him in a chase which brings him deeper into the forest, deeper into an impossible but enchanting reality from which it becomes ever harder to escape.

And, of course, by this time the scarring has begun. Every week another beautiful girl is found at the edge of the Blackhart, unhurt but hideously disfigured, never to be beautiful again. They have no memory of their abduction or of any pain. The medical world is baffled, everyone is scared and the forest is no longer a safe place to play in.


Meanwhile, Katrina (Richard's girlfriend) is fighting a personal battle in her mind as the recent events have stirred up unhappy memories and guilt surrounding her sister's disappearance. Bethany was last seen fourteen years ago running into the forest after the two girls had yet another row. Katrina has always believed that her sister is still alive somewhere but now all her instincts are screaming that both Richard and Bethany are in great danger and she must try to save them. The only problem is that to do this she must face her deepest fear and go to a place she has avoided all her life - into the forest.