Dan Hawk, an ex-detective turned writer, is re-instated onto the force after returning to his home town. A serial killer has 'donned the guise' of Hawks most famous book creation, and has begun to kill people off one by one.
The film describes the events leading up to, and including, the massacre of the adults of a small town in Nebraska by their children, after the adults' irresponsibility ruins the crop and the children's future.