Anne Marie Smeaton is back in the hometown she hasn't seen for forty years, trying to live a normal life with her partner and teenage son. But that's impossble for Anne Marie. Because forty years ago, when she was eleven, she killed a little boy.

She is trying to make peace with her past by telling her story to journalist Joe Donovan. But it's not that simple. By dredging up memories and emotions she usually keeps repressed, Anne Marie is unleashing old nightmares from the past. Suffering from horrifying visions, she sometimes does bad things. Things she has no memory of afterwards. So when a teenager on her housing estate is murdered and she wakes up with blood on her hands, Anne Marie naturally fears the worst.

Her fragile life falling apart, Anne Marie turns to those she loves. But where she was expecting support, she finds only betrayal. Desperate, she turns to Donovan for help. But Donovan may have his own reasons for helping her. Reasons which have to do with the disappearance of his own son . . .