Latham, Idaho, March, 17, 2010. Ashley and Ned Pine have spoken perhaps six words over yet another dispirited evening meal when black-booted attackers kick in their kitchen door wielding aluminum bats and no explanations. The blows rain down. When Ned revives in a hospital bed with a throbbing concussion, his father-in-law, Isaac Tucker, is waiting to divulge that Ashley is broken and in a deep coma. The two men now find themselves reluctant confederates vying over Ashley's care.

With this startling beginning, George Byron Wright sets the stage for a captivating story launched by evil intent and driven by traumatic loss. From his suddenly misfired life, Ned struggles to rediscover who he is, has been, and perhaps will be. When an old hippie uncle offers Ned a bunk above his thrift shop in the blue-collar neighborhood of St. Johns in Portland, Oregon, he balks before taking refuge among objects still of some use.

In St. Johns, people accept him; one may even love him. But the question remains: Who is behind the heinous attack and why were Ashley and he singled out? The answer lies in the convoluted layers of Ned Pine's ordinary life. He has written it all down--the worst six months of his life.