A team of backpackers has descended into the far reaches of India for adventure and exploration-and deep in its jungles is a verdant maze veiled in silken webs. Gina, John, Brian, Phil, and Stacey don't foresee any real peril until Geraldine, another member of the team, is bitten by a spider. Showing signs of allergic reaction, she's carried to the local village of Karni Mata, where Dr. Lecorpus, an American physician, is living. It's not the haven they were expecting. The natives of Karni Mata worship the lethal arachnid as an eight-legged God in a Bizarre village temple. About as inviting as a spider's giant fanged maw, the unique structure is unlike anything the young visitors have ever seen, and its mysteries prove irresistible to curious adventure-seekers like Brian and Stacey. Meanwhile, Gina, John, and Phil have reached town to seek help for Geraldine on their own. Sergeant Chadri lends a sympathetic ear, but when he heads for Karni Mata and doesn't return, Gina and John head for the primitive village themselves to find out what's going on. But Karni Mata is deserted. The only sounds of life are the distant rhythms of jungle drums-and screams emanating from the webbed darkness of the Karni Mata temple. Rescuing their friends means following the drums into a paralyzing, terrifying web. But on this venomous night of sacrifice, human flesh is not only a feast for a crawling army of spiders. Dr. Lecorpus's ultimate plan for his victims is beyond anything any of them imagined-and it becomes a battle of man-against-man-and-man-against-nature that few will survive.
