Their only child was kidnapped and never found. Six years later, the only remaining portion of Jim Markman's life, remaining relatively unscathed, was his status as assistant district attorney for Davidson County, Tennessee. His marriage had fallen apart, his desire to interact with any aspect of society was nonexistent, and he found it hard to turn down a drink of any kind that contained alcohol. But while prosecuting a murderer in a case he considered impossible to lose, all that changed in a heartbeat, when near the conclusion of the state's case, the defendant's attorney informed him he needed to find a way to throw the trial-make sure the defendant was found not guilty. If he did, the defendant would then provide him with information about his daughter-she was alive and he knew where she lived. Each and every twist of the plot continues to darken the story, until finally culminating in an unusual, unpredictable ending no one could predict.