Richard West and his family are caught in an earthquake that isolates the town of Grantville, in the South Island of New Zealand. They find their way to Te Kouka Flats farm, which is deserted, with signs of a recent fire. The family search for survivors assisted by a ten year old boy with severe communication problems. What they find makes them targets for murderer Philip Zinsli. A farm kill butcher, Philip Zinsli is a gigolo, marrying women for their money in order to achieve his ambition of owning a large farm in the South Island of New Zealand. When Zinsli finds he needs more land he launches a campaign of vandalism to force his neighbouring farmer to sell up. His neighbours, Greg and Sally Somerville, have a son who cannot communicate. When Sally sinks into despondency, Zinsli seizes his opportunity to further pressure Greg by seducing Sally.

Zinsli manipulates Sally into making him her beneficiary should she die. Zinsli then sets about murdering Greg and Sally and their ten year old son Lance so that Zinsli can inherit the Somerville farm, Te Kouka Flats, allowing him to join both farms together. When the area is cut off from the rest of the country by an earthquake Richard West and his wife Alex and daughter Jo are trapped in their car. They manage to escape and find their way to the Somerville farm. Finding the farm deserted and evidence of a recent fire, the West family set about uncovering what has happened. Zinsli decides that the West family must join his other victims as farm kill.