Max is an erratic, obsessive young artist who claims to have developed a completely new kind of painting--not a system, not a technique, but a process that captures the vivacity of the real world and converts it into paintings. He's introduced to Sara--an equally obsessive, narcissistic young art critic--by a mutual friend, and the two rapidly become lovers. Sara, intrigued by Max's grandiose claims but skeptical of his self-described genius, agrees to accompany Max to a secluded cabin in the mountains outside of Los Angeles, where he will demonstrate his new system by painting her portrait, and she will write an article documenting the process. When they arrive at the cabin, their obsessions first feed one another, and then begin to clash. As Max's entrancing portrait of Sara nears completion, she comes to see just how radical his system really is. The eventual result is something both more wonderful and more horrible than either of them imagined. Just how far will the two go in the name of perfecting their art, and how much will it change them? What is the price of true genius?
—Jon Lawhead