Summary

In the Prologue, Slaughter describes a man loved by a woman even though the man is headstrong, stupid, and hurt people. The woman continued to be pulled in by the man because of his charm. One day, however, the man made enough mistakes and his charm no longer worked. He also threatened the woman's life.

She had loved him because she believed he was serious in raging against the system, particularly the injustice of the way mental patients were treated. She realized it was the rage he felt, not the injustice that had motived her lover. What the woman has never confessed was that it was she who initiated the man’s rage.

In Chapter 1, Andrea “Andy” Oliver and her mother, Laura Oliver, are eating at the Rise-N-Dine in honor of Andy’s 31st birthday. Andy’s mother blamed herself because Andy...