Charlie Manx, a seductive immortal who feeds off the souls of children, has his whole world threatened when a young woman in New England discovers she has a dangerous gift.

Young Victoria "Vic" McQueen discovers that she has the power to unlock portals that help her find lost objects. As she delves further into this hidden universe, she encounters many other "inscape travelers"--some benevolent, and some who have been corrupted by their power. When Vic encounters Charlie Manx, an immortal who stays that way by feeding off the souls of children, she makes a sworn enemy of him.

The plot circles around its title. The Wraith's or Phantom's license plate NOS4A2 can be read and remembered as BAD SON. SON is spelled backwards, 2 is the second letter of the alphabet: B. Then there's: A. And the fourth letter of the alphabet: D. The Manx cat originated on the Isle of Man. The mannish cat is an ancient breed and has a mutation: it is tailless or with a stump. The Manx language is considered an endangered one. For example the word: Çhiarn in ManX--the 'ch' has the same sound as in Charlie. The word means Lord. Here is a dark lord who gives the illusion of light through snow and promises of happiness to the young children he lures into his ghostly lair.. 'Inscape' is a word mentioned quite often. It is a word invented by the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins who was a priest. In his religiosity he used it to express the heart's spiritual voyage until it reaches a heavenly state. He is considered one of the greatest poetic minds in The Age of Queen Victoria. He was an accomplished artist as well as a writer and he drew in lines without color. He believed Man was Backwards to Nature. The opening line of Charles Dickens--'A Tale of Two Cities' is a reveal of the duality in Time.