In Baker, Washington, high school quarterback Jim Boltz becomes insane during a match and hallucinates a ghost coming after him – Abel Frye.

Nate learns that three football players have been attacked by Abel Frye – which rendered them mad before inexplicably leading to coma – after finding a hangman symbol on their lockers.

Discovering a secret entrance to the school’s old basement, Elijah and Elisha find a small altar to Abel recently visited, but decide to leave everything as is.

Cheerleader Shawna Miller is questioned after a hangman symbol is discovered on her locker, and she suggests Abel Frye is controlled by Crystal Sparks, another rumored witch.

Meanwhile, Elijah convinces Ian to exercise with him but both are driven out of the school gym by the same jocks, whose bullying is condoned by the football coach, Mr. Marquadt.

Finding Norman in a secret room, he reveals himself as the culprit: He brought the wolf spiders from Africa after a trip and used them to enact revenge on his bullies, dousing their straws with additive to shorten their lifespan, still, he committed the mistake of releasing a female.

Following her recovery, Elisha learns that the other victims have begun recovering after having an antidote administered, while both Norman and Ian have been entered into a mentorship to turn their lives around.

They also found that "Peretti paints a realistic picture of the clique-y world of high school" and that "his comfortably paced, compelling performance consistently draws readers along".

"[1] Elaine Fort Weischedel, writing for School Library Journal, described Peretti's Veritas Project as "an evangelical Christian X-Files".

Beyond the religious aspects of the novel, Fort Weischedel noted that "Peretti develops the plot nicely" and concluded that "young teens should enjoy this fast-paced and atmospheric novel".