Summary

The story begins with a police report. In January 2021, a small envelope addressed to Detective Ralph Anderson is delivered to his neighbors because he was on an extended vacation in the Bahamas with his family. When he returns, he finds that the envelop contains a flash drive titled “If It Bleeds.” The drive has a folder with pictures and audio files. The drive also has an audio report from Holly Gibney, a private investigator who Ralph had worked with (in Stephen King’s book The Outsider) on a case in which they had both defeated a monstrous creature posing as a human. Holly’s last report tells him that she has done everything she can, but she might not survive, and advises him to be careful if he continues her work.

The next section, “December 8-9, 2020,” skips back a month and...