The primary action of the book takes place in Jeff's California hometown after he is returned to his family. Atkins underscores the foreignness of this setting to Jeff, although this "normal" home, "normal" school and "normal" community once felt very comfortable and familiar to him. When Jeff first enters his home he is immediately sensitive to light and sound. We soon learn that he was locked in a dark basement for years and frequently blindfolded. The light and noise inside Jeff's old home immediately overloads his senses.

When Jeff first enters his old room, he gets glimpses of the boy he once was. He was thirteen years old at the time of his abduction, and he returns to a thirteenyear-old's room. Everything is the same as it was when he disappeared. His homework and eighth grade school books are still sitting on his desk. Again, all of this...