"Two main protagonists dominate this epic film. Chairman Mauch, who had supported Hitler, finds new fame and fortune in West Germany after the war. The bourgeois chemist Dr. Hans Scholz lives through a tortuous political transformation and maturing process. Finally, he becomes wrapped up in his political neutrality and closes his eyes to the fact that poison is being produced in his factory. Standing before the judges at the Nuremburg Trials, he learns that he is partly responsible for millions of deaths in gas chambers at concentration camps."--Container

麦拉自称能通灵阴阳界，她欲通过捏造神话来提高自己知名度，她的计划是通过控制自己意志力薄弱的丈夫比利，让丈夫来诱拐有钱人家的女儿，而她向受害家属通风报现实自己的“神力”……

故事围绕一位灵媒展开，她劝说丈夫绑架一名儿童，这样她就能协助警方破案，并凭借自己的能力声名远扬。然而，当她的真实意图暴露后，她的丈夫意识到这个计划可能会让他们两人都陷入万劫不复之地。这部小说曾于1964年被改编成电影，由理查德·阿滕伯勒（Richard Attenborough）和金·斯坦利（Kim Stanley）主演。