Eleanor Hurley is a woman leading a life of quiet desperation when a single moment of violence changes everything. Eleanor kills a homicidal man to save a group of children. With this lethal act she is released from her former existence, yet her freedom comes with a price: Eleanor's not repulsed by her capacity for violence, but rather exhilarated by her unsuspected power to take a life. Frightened at the darkness within, she flees to Halifax, but cannot run away from herself, or from the troubles that lie ahead. Author Joan Mauch delves into the psychology of the average person and discovers that what lies beneath the surface is something complex, disturbing and altogether unexpected. --Michael Romkey, author of "American Gothic" and nine other novels