A suspense-thriller revolving around a misunderstood outcast who is found cradling the bloody body of a woman he considered to be his only friend.
The murder happens on Mindy Knowles’ birthday in a town where murders never happen. Even so, it doesn’t shock anyone when they find Danny Bedford, the town’s misunderstood outcast, cradling her bludgeoned body. The riveting story unfolds in a taut 24 hours as Danny is accused of the crime while being hunted by the townspeople who have dark secrets that only Danny can expose.
Themes of isolation & loneliness drive the story as the reader finds themselves rooting for and strangely identifying with a protagonist whose innocent and literal perspective on life is both pitiful and enlightened.
With no one to turn to, Danny escapes into the snow-covered and unforgiving mountainous countryside – the act itself an admission of guilt to many. In addition to deputy Snarski, a vindictive man who was romantically linked to Mindy, Danny is pursued by the town sheriff, an old soul who doesn’t believe Danny is guilty; a state police trooper whose struggle with alcoholism is spiraling out of control; and Mindy’s two older brothers, who intend to enact their own form of revenge.