The time for clowning around is over as Professor Compton's Phantom Circus arrives in Black Hollow. April McCray merely wants to enjoy spring break, avoiding the crowds of rambunctious children attending the circus. However, the Powers That Be yank her banshee from her peaceful evening, shoving her into the nightmare of a dark-haired stranger as she tries to warn him of a loved one's soon demise. Once she's safely back in her own home, April can't stop thinking about the man with the pale-red eyes. Wyatt Compton refuses to be anyone's fool, especially whoever is murdering his family. He has to uncover the killer before he strikes again, this time killing Wyatt's grandfather, but how can he do that among a group of shapeshifters? The circus comes to Black Hollow, bringing a killer along with it, thrusting April and Wyatt together in a race to save his grandfather. Can they stop whoever desires to kill the ringmaster, or has the circus finally met its end?