Laura Ponto wouldn't mind watching Frank del Rio be strapped to the executioner's gurney, even if her job is to find mitigating evidence in death penalty cases. Frank is not a client, but a long time ago he did unspeakable things to children – and Laura was one of them. Now Frank is being released on parole, and they will both learn that their lives are still intertwined. Their story will end in a place even darker than it began in a shattering noir novel of suspense, sex, violence, love and death in the urban desert of Phoenix, Arizona.