Forest, North Carolina. Under the instruction of enigmatic Professor Joe Lyons, five graduate students are studying the tedious science behind the acts of lying. But discovering the secrets of deception isn't making any of the students more honest. Instead, it's making it easier for them to guard their own secrets --- and they all have something to hide. When a test goes awry and one of them is found dead, the students find themselves trapped by a snowstorm on an abandoned campus with a local detective on the case. As harbored secrets begin to break the surface, the graduates must find out who's lying, who isn't, and who may have been capable of committing murder. It turns out deception is even more dangerous than they thought.

After years of learning how to manage her bipolar disorder, Emily Firestone finally has it under control. Even better, her life is coming together. Emily and her boyfriend, Paolo, go on a weekend sailing trip. But when she wakes the morning after they set sail, the boat is still adrift…and Paolo is gone. A strong swimmer, there’s no way Paolo drowned, but Emily is at a loss for any other explanation. As the hours and days pass by, each moment marking Paolo’s disappearance, Emily’s hard-won stability begins to slip. But when Emily uncovers evidence suggesting Paolo was murdered, the investigation throws her mania into overdrive, even as she becomes a person of interest in her own personal tragedy.