A fierce typhoon strikes Tokyo one night, flooding the city streets. Someone unlawfully removes a manhole cover, and a little boy out searching for a lost pet goes missing, possibly drowned in the sewers. Is it murder or accidental? These events bring together a struggling journalist named Kosaka, who is grappling with the ghosts of his past, and two young men who may or may not have psychic powers. The three form an unwilling team not only to search for the lost boy but also to solve a second mystery involving Kosaka's former fiancee. Kosaka's career and personal life have stagnated since his breakup with Saeko a few years earlier, and locked him in an emotional impasse. The two young men-Shinji and Naoya-each wrestle to come to terms with their unique powers ('the dragon within'). Both have trouble keeping girlfriends, as their extraordinary powers continually scare off potential romance. While Shinji wants to use his abilities to help others, Naoya wants to cloak his. Kosaka, meanwhile, doubts the young men's ability, all-too-clearly aware that such claims of psychic knowledge of the crimes could in reality mask a criminal culpability. But then all three are forced into an unsteady alliance to try to save the life of someone close to Kosaka.

宮部美雪（宮部みゆき），日本當代著名小說傢。自1987年齣道以來，已創作近五十多部作品。作品常年高居日本暢銷書榜首，幾乎囊括日本文學界所有大奬，被譽為繼吉川英治、鬆本清張和司馬遼太郎之後的“國民作傢”。代錶作有：《魔術的耳語》（1989年，獲日本推理懸疑小說大奬）；《龍眠》（1991年，獲日本推理作傢協會奬）；《火車》（1992年，獲山本周五郎奬）；《蒲生邸事件》（1996年，獲日本SF大奬）；《理由》（1998年，獲直木奬）；《模仿犯》（2001年，獲藝術選奬文部科學大臣奬、司馬遼太郎奬等六項大奬）。