In one of the channels of New York, two decapitated human skeletons are discovered, and on the neck vertebrae there are clearly traces of strange teeth. One of the victims has been identified as the daughter of a powerful aristocrat, but who does the other skeleton belong to—its bones having suffered monstrous deformation? During the investigation, Police Lieutenant d’Agosta finds out that lately the homeless living in the underground labyrinths of the city are living in constant fear: someone is killing their fellow people and decapitating the corpses. Rumors spread about mysterious creatures—wrinklers—that have settled on the very lowest levels of New York’s underground.
FBI special agent Aloysius Pendergast, who joins the investigation, decides to descend into the city’s underworld to find the answer to these horrific murders…