Howard Barton came to Mendocino in search of a folded scrap of paper. Not just any old scrap of paper, but one bearing what might be a sketch by the legendary Japanese artist, Hoku-sai. But Howard, unfortunately, is not the only one who wants the sketch...

There's old Heloise Lamey, whose lush and noxious garden is watered with blood, ink, and stranger substances.

And the enigmatic Mr. Jimmers, whose workshop holds a bizarre invention designed to raise the dead.

Even Howard's Uncle Roy, a builder of haunted houses and founder of The Museum of Modern Mysteries, has an interest in the sketch.

In Northern California, nothing is what it appears, but everything is connected - Howard is led to a mysterious private war between secret, underground societies. Now Howard just needs to figure whose side he's on in the quest for the Paper Grail.