Sixteen-year-old Ben Larsson is angry. His mother is dead. His estranged father has dragged him to England, hoping that a fresh start in a new country will repair their damaged relationship. Ben is determined that this will never happen. Then, Ben's life is consumed by unexplained events. A complete stranger attacks him. The school outcast, a strange girl named Y vonne who talks to herself, follows him around like a stray puppy, insisting that Ben has been marked. He finds a bizarre twig image of himself on his doorstep. What is happening? Who or what is behind this? Meanwhile, an ancient force is luring Ben into the woods nearby. Will the knowledge he finds there bring back order to his life or complicate it in ways unimaginable?