Publisher's Synopsis
The demon Mephistopheles sends his bounty hunter of the damned, the Ghost Rider, to retrieve the contract of San Venganza for control of a thousand corrupt souls. Seeing that the contract would give Mephistopheles the power to bring hell on Earth, the Rider refuses and escapes with it.
In 1986, Mephistopheles reaches out to 17-year-old Johnny Blaze, offering to cure his father's cancer in exchange for Johnny's soul. The next morning, Johnny awakens to discover the cancer cured, but his father then dies from burns sustained in a stunt accident. Johnny accuses Mephistopheles of causing his father's death, but Mephistopheles considers their contract fulfilled and promises to see him again.
In 2007, Johnny has become a famous stunt motorcycle rider, and runs into his former sweetheart Roxanne Simpson, now a news reporter, whom he abandoned after his father's death. He convinces her to attend a dinner date. Mephistopheles� son Blackheart comes to Earth and seeks the aid of the Hidden - three fallen angels bonded with the elements of air, earth, and water - to find the lost contract of San Venganza. Mephistopheles makes Johnny the new Ghost Rider and offers to return his soul if he defeats Blackheart. Johnny transforms into the Ghost Rider and kills the earth angel Gressil. He then uses the Penance Stare � a power that causes mortals to feel all the pain they have caused others which sears their soul � on a thug. The next day, he meets a man called the Caretaker, who knows about the Ghost Rider's history, assuring Johnny that what happened was real and will happen again, especially at night when he is near an evil soul.
