Dr. Alan Bulmer discovers one day that he can cure any illness with the mere touch of his hand, with no rational explanation. Although he tries to hide it, word inevitably leaks out and soon Alan's life begins to unravel. Only rich, beautiful, enigmatic Sylvia Nash stands by him, and Ba, her Vietnamese gardener, who witnessed such power in his homeland, where it is called Dat-tay-vao and always comes with a price. Help arrives unexpectedly—Senator James McCready offers the use of his family's medical foundation to investigate Alan's power. If it truly exists, he will back Alan with the full weight of the Foundation's international reputation. Alan accepts McCready's offer. But he has only begun to pay.

F. PAUL WILSON, the New York Times bestselling author of the Repairman Jack novels, lives in Wall, New Jersey. In 2008, he won the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.