Summary

Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the novel's main protagonist, Becca Kingsley, who is being watched by a man named John Jackson. The Delaware River separates their lives: Becca on the New Jersey side and John in the small town of Portland on the Pennsylvania side. John watches Becca as she runs, which is part of her morning routine before going to work at a veterinary clinic. On this particular day, Becca sees John dressed in camouflage and pants soaked up to the knee from wading into the river. Knowing that he is not a fisherman, Becca finds this odd. She yells that she sees him, but "the river's rapids drowned her voice" (2). Becca spots something bulky floating in the river. Unnerved, Becca keeps running with her loyal dog, Romy, at her side.

The narrative then digs into Becca's past and how she came...