The book follows Victoria "Vic" McQueen, a young woman that has a talent for finding things thought unfindable. As a child she had a run in with Charles Talent Manx, a man that picks up children in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith with the license plate NOS4A2. It's with this car that he picks up children and takes them to the terrifying world of "Christmasland". Vic managed to get away from Manx, which prompted him to obsess over her. On the other hand, all Vic wants to do is forget about what happened, something that seems impossible once she discovers that Manx has now set his sights on her son.