Cryptic messages must be deciphered. Traitors must be tracked. And a massacre must be avoided - or instigated, depending on your perspective! In the delicate moments just before sleep arrives, Winn is plagued with symbols racing through his mind. He has no idea what they mean, but he suspects they're a message, sent to him from someone trapped in a place where messages aren't supposed to escape. With the help of Carma and David, Winn begins a quest to decipher the symbols. Along the way, he faces maniacal ghosts and unsavory opportunists. Thankfully, his friend Awan has connections that can help, and soon they discover dangerous, evil forces moving all around them, gathering for a confrontation. When they uncover the nature of the impending conflict, they're frightened - terrified of what might happen, terrified of the role they're expected to play, and terrified for Deem. The Massacre Mechanism continues the story of The Downwinders, those with "the gift" who operate in the southern United States where fallout from nuclear testing in the sixties horribly shifted the ghosts and other unseen entities that make up "The River" - the place where the gifted can go to see the things that the rest of us cannot. It is a fast-paced paranormal adventure, and the fifth title in The Downwinders series.