Fourteen-year-old Karl Parker has already seen too much of life. After the death of his father, his grieving mum turned to heroin, leaving Karl to fend for himself and try to look after her. A boy with too many troubles already, he finds himself the target of the bully at his new school. Then, just when he thinks things couldn't be any worse, he notices his neighbour behaving strangely - so strangely that Karl begins to suspect him of something bad. Something very, very bad indeed.