Three men-Seward Caprice, Joel Marlin, and Paul Drake-live their lives like so many others. There is nothing particularly spectacular about any of them. Each man loves, fears, and hates. Each man is haunted by the challenges that linger in his own mind, and each must find a way to maintain control. The difference lies only in how they choose to deal with this assigned task, this task of life. Often, Seward, Joel, and Paul dabble in self-destruction. They use self-abuse to keep their wild minds in check, and in this abuse, they find control-or do they? Soon appears a mysterious figure known only as "Salem." Salem is an aristocratic madman who seems to have no background, no history. He just suddenly appears, and his dark mission for each man becomes clear. The three must now walk separate paths, all at the bidding of Salem. He exists as a stalking shadow that pushes each man toward an uncertain, and possibly disastrous, future. The dull lives of Seward, Joel, and Paul are now laced with uncertainty and deceit. Will these men find the way back to themselves or will the challenge of life be too much to bear?