after surviving the most horrifying ordeal of her life a woman flees with her son to the safety of a small california town but her refuge is shattered when her son disappears plunging her and an excop into a hunt plagued by deception and danger this tour de force attracted critical acclaim and is an alternate selection of the lg and doubleday book club book includes author discussion of rape and recovery a story that traces the bonds between four generations of resourceful southern women through stories passed from one generation to another journey to the land of the dead all expenses paidnot my idea of an ideal vacation but this was work after all even an assassin has to earn a living the trouble is everyone knows that a living human cannot walk the paths of the dead and return alive to the land of men but being an easterner is not exactly like being human by dragaeran standards anyway thus the rule doesnt apply to me i hope