Happy fifty third birthday, Doctor. Welcome to the first day of your death. Dr. Frederick Starks, a New York psychoanalyst, has just received a mysterious, threatening letter. Now he finds himself in the middle of a horrific game designed by a man who calls himself Rumplestiltskin. The rules: in two weeks, Starks must guess his tormentor' s identity. If Starks succeeds, he goes free. If he fails, Rumplestiltskin will destroy, one by one, fifty-two of Dr. Starks' loved ones-- unless the good doctor agrees to kill himself. In a blistering race against time, Starks' is at the mercy of a psychopath' s devious game of vengeance. He must find a way to stop the madman-- before he himself is driven mad. . . .