Lena Grove has made a dangerous mistake. Misappropriating Yale's funds, she abandons her study of sacred places to chase something far darker-sites of true evil. Cast out by the university and the best man she ever knew, she walks a treacherous path, inviting forces she cannot control into her life.
Her grandmother, Effie, knows the truth-Lena's father and mother were not merely lost, but taken by something beyond human understanding. The plants he studied did more than grow-they reached, they chose, they consumed. And now, Lena's reckless pursuit threatens to unearth forbidden knowledge about the morality of the plant world, knowledge that may consume her as well.
In this eerie blend of paranormal mystery and unsettling romance, Lena is drawn into a battle between science and the supernatural, good and evil, life and death. The man who loves her cannot understand her obsession, and she cannot ignore the pull of the darkness she seeks. But some truths are better left buried, and some things-once awakened-will never sleep again.