Eight sophomores arrive at college to find the dad of a student on their dorm-step: ex-con Larry Ray. Before long, Ray becomes their ninth roommate - and lures them into a dangerous cult.

As the students fall deeper under Larry’s spell, they follow him to New York City, where he co-opts an apartment uptown. As Larry grows more controlling and even violent, the students’ realities are upended.

After Larry is evicted, the cult relocates to New Jersey, where Larry commits his most hideous crimes yet. When he is finally arrested, the two women closest to him choose disparate paths to survive.