In the dim light of a storeroom, Vekaya wakes up, alone and with no memory of who she is, where she is, or how she got there. In an orphanage run by an arcane religious cabal, our first protagonist has no choice but to become an investigator, a rebel, and her very own hero. At nearly the same time and not far away, a mysterious and deadly force from an uncharted region causes the town of South Hall to destroy itself, leaving Gyrath and his little brother Caedrus equal parts baffled and horrified.

Taken from a stable and easy life, they are now adrift in a world of wolf packs, shapeshifters, will-bending shamassons, and the death crawler: a worm made entirely of corpses, the size of a tower that breathes violent madness into those unlucky enough to be near it. The trio must learn to put aside their differences in the hopes that the three of them will survive their adventure and save Hammercleft - and possibly the world - from those who would dominate it.

Surrendering her life to copywriting for the biotech wing of a multinational corporation was not what Eliza Latimer had had in mind for herself when she graduated from college with a degree in English. Seized by a sudden impulse to defy her fate, she sends a series of incendiary e-mails to the higher echelons of the company. Eliza is certain that she will be fired. But, why would a huge corporation like Monte Salute bring one of its lowliest employees upstate to meet the gorgeous sole heir and owner, if he was just going to fire her? Alessandro Neroni has a secret that Eliza is about to find out. But, she has a secret of her own.

On the other side of the country, Nick Assenzio was working with a team of physicists on the verge of a revolutionary break-through. His life is plunged into disarray when he is implicated in a terrorist plot and must run from a fate worse than death. With his world turned completely upside down, Nick must ally himself with an alcoholic, chain-smoking, semi-immortal magician named Beau.

How will a shadowy religious cabal, an extradimensional bar, the scientific manifestation of hell, werewolves, vampires, and things that go bump in the night eventually weave the fabric Eliza's destiny to Nick's? Who will survive? Can they, along with their unlikely allies, save the world from the Pandemonium Dream?