Chicago police detective Monica Falco, lives to do her job. She's smart, thorough, impatient and plays by the rules. As a hot July looms over Chicago's gritty Uptown neighborhood on the city's north side, Falco and her partner are assigned to protect off-beat, lesbian artist Andrea Fulbright from Brian McCaffery, a recently-escaped convict bent on revenge. Four years prior, Fulbright unwittingly thwarted McCaffery's plan to rob a local bank. Seeking vengeance, he tried to kill her. Traumatized and injured from the attack, Fulbright's life was upended. Now, faced with McCaffery's escape and once again fearing for her life, Fulbright is convinced the police can't protect her and believes the cops are using her as bait to catch him. Through the course of the story, Detective Falco finds herself drawn to Fulbright and tries desperately to come to terms with her budding attraction to her and what that means. She's pulled into Fulbright's world and develops friendships and relationships both healing and destructive. Her career takes a blow; she struggles with personal demons, suffers through physical injury and ultimately finds healing, clarity and strength. Reaction to the Victim is an intense psychological crime novel with complex characters, intriguing crime scenarios and interconnecting subplots, all set in a steamy Chicago summer.