New York: Simon & Schuster, (1997) dj. Hardcover first edition - The author's second novel, a return both to his Southern roots and to his journalist background, in this portrayal of a bored and cynical newsman who rejects an appeal for help from a woman he sees as weak, but when she is murdered days later by the husband she sought protection from, he embarks on an odyssey of redemption. 224 pp. ISBN: 0-684837269.