A phone call in the early hours of the morning shatters the tranquility of Sheriff Daniel Barrett's household when he finds out that the father of his daughter's best friend has been the victim of a brutal homicide. Viewing the body at the scene of the crime convinces Barrett that there is a monster loose in the town, and the deranged killer is poised to strike again. Barrett is in a race against time with a lab full of evidence that seems to point nowhere, and a growing suspicion that everything is more complicated than it seems.