Two people in the novella "Nightmare Garden" are chained to bad or difficult relationships, find each other and escape into their passion for a time that they hope will last forever. The scenes play out in Paris, Madrid, and in cafes of Tangier and Marrakech, Morocco, locations that the author knows well. In the short story "Dust," set in a small town in northwest Montana, a young man discovers that he can both love his uncle but hate him for what he does. "Mother's Helper" was one of the most surprising mystery-horror stories of the year it was published and was mentioned in "The Best Mystery Stories on 1999" as one of thirty-six most distinguished stories. In "An Interview with my Imaginary Friend," the real John Herrmann is interviewed by his last novel's central character in a playful exchange that ultimately reveals the complex nature of fiction writing.