Ruined lives, incest, suicide, and murder arises from an outbreak of syphilis spread by a local high school girl. The mayor, health officials, chief of police, and townspeople struggle their way through the chaos, in this small Appalachian town. Joe Worley, a native of southeastern Kentucky where this story is set. A retired Air Force veteran, he served in the Vietnam War and the cold war. He lives and writes in Daphne, Alabama.