The skeptical Dr. John Holden travels to London to meet his friend Professor Harrington and investigate Dr. Julian Karswell, who is the leader of a sect that worships the devil, to expose him as a charlatan. Holden learns that Professor Harrington has just died in a car accident and the goes to the library to read a rare book about the occult that his friend wanted to show him; however the book is missing. Karswell is in the library and offers to lend the book from his private collection and gives his address to Holden. He also secretly hides a parchment into Holden's document. Soon Holden meets Harrington's niece Joanna Harrington that warns him how dangerous Karswell is based on her uncle's diary. Further they discover that Holden is doomed to die in a couple of days and his only chance to break the curse is returning the parchment to Karswell.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil