The Jackal is an elusive assassin who makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. He soon meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer who tracks him down in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe.

Sent to Africa at the close of World War II to tend to the needs of the local community, Father Lankester Merrin gets more than he ever bargained for when he has his first brush with a devilish force known simply as Pazuzu.