Mitch Stern is attending MacWorld in San Francisco, hoping that distance will help him make sense of his wife's desertion. He can't escape the image of returning home from work one typical day and finding white rectangles on the walls where the chronicle of his family's life once played out in pictures. His body is found a few days later washed up on Ocean Beach. Homicide Detective Mike MacKenzie and Marin County Sheriff's Deputy May Reeves add Mitch to the list of victims found washed up on beaches in San Francisco and Marin over the past several months. They have no clues. Jim Henderson is a young Silicon Valley executive who meets and falls in love with Elizabeth Leahy, a recent graduate of Boalt Law School. She's beautiful, brilliant and knows how to get what she wants. Jim is drawn not only to Liz, but to her larger-than-life family and friends. As the relationship matures, Jim begins to suspect that something sinister lies beneath the witty banter, generous parties, and charisma of Liz, her father, and their social set. In this intricate thriller, a young man races to understand the psychological dark sides of his wife and in-laws as the police uncover evidence that may lead them directly into his newfound idyllic world.