The year is 1899 and Sonia Wilson is a scientific illustrator without work, prospects or hope. When the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use. But soon enough she finds that there are darker things at work in the Carolina woods. What happened to her predecessor, Halder's wife? Why are animals acting so strangely? And what is behind the peculiar local whispers about 'blood thieves'? With the aid of the housekeeper and a local healer, Sonia discovers that Halder's entomological studies have taken him down a dark road full of parasitic maggots that burrow into human flesh - and that his monstrous experiments may grow to encompass his newest illustrator . . .