Based on David Koepp's screenplay of the upcoming film, starring Jodie Foster, scheduled for release in January 2002, this novelization tells the story of divorcee Meg Altman, who moves with her young daughter from Connecticut to Manhattan. Her home's previous owner created a "panic room"--an impregnable inner fortress of steel and video monitors. When three prowlers break in, Meg and her daughter seek sanctuary in the panic room. But then their nightmare begins.