Death was the simplest subject in the world to Peter Elsinore, who teaches death and dying in Walcott, Nebraska. But when he finds a possibly cancerous bump on his leg and crosses paths with a serial killer, he learns about mortality in ways he could never have imagined. Walcott is thrown into a fearful, chaotic state as the elusive murderer picks off citizens without a trace. Like a malignant tumor, the killer invades Peter's once comfortable existence...