Fantasy, crime, and Norse gods come together when it emerges that a series of bestial murders is connected with an ancient prophecy about the end of the world. Anne can see events from the past, and one night she glimpses an old and horrible murder: a red-haired girl is killed and a rune carved into her back. Shortly afterward someone begins killing red-haired girls in the same manner, and the rune is found on all of them. Suddenly the little town is full of strangers. They have mysterious powers, and are drawn to Anne, who isn't used to being near other people. Several of the strangers want to help her, but it takes a long time before she knows which of them she can trust. Playing on such classic themes as good versus evil, the book is at once a fantasy, a thriller, and a coming-of-age story.