 Novelist Thad Beaumount has buried his alter ego George Stark, a pseudonym he used when writing fiction of a darker nature than he would write using his real name. He even stages a mock burial of George for the benefit of the press. When a local man is killed, evidence leads Sheriff Alan Pangborn to George s grave, and he begins to suspect Thad. Meanwhile Thad is beginning to have visions of sparrows flying, something that hasn t occurred for twenty-three years since he had brain surgery. As the string of gruesome murders continue, someone claiming to be George Stark starts calling Thad on the phone. Thad fears for his family s safety, and Pangborn can t decide whether or not Thad is the murderer.