Death-fakers, soul-suckers and a detective who can't feel pain... When Del Copeland is hired to find a man who went to his own funeral, he takes the case on out of pity. He wants to give the man’s wife some closure in her winter years, but soon his investigation turns up more than he ever expected. He begins to see things he can’t explain: men with pitch-black eyes, someone hypnotised and floating above the ground, a gaunt figure in a crystal ball having the life sucked from his body... Joining forces with the granddaughter of the missing man, Del is thrust into a world of crooked former cops and fugitives. A world where people vanish and are never seen again. A world where lives are surrendered willingly, then feasted upon by ravenous ghouls... After Del messes with their operation, they turn their black eyes on him. If he isn't careful, he'll soon become one of the missing: a helpless victim in never-ending hell, having the soul slowly leeched from his body. "Without pain," he is told, "there is no joy."