Arabelle’s beloved town matriarch, Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas, is snatched from her car, held for ransom, and propped up to the sympathy of thousands online. Her leaked ransom video might have been enough to placate the headline-starved, but for the endlessly bored detective, Robert Ellery, the ticking time-bomb, Alice Daniels, and for Mrs. Thomas herself, a simple headline could never unfurl the secrets they keep from the lies they tell. There is far more to this story than meets the eye. There is more to the dueling towns of affluent, picturesque Arabelle and impoverished, crime-riddled Wood’s Edge. There is more to the gang of rich, white wannabe gangstas who call themselves The Dropout Boys.
There is more to the local urban legend of a fearsome drug kingpin named The Four Eyed King.
There is more to Robert, Alice, and Elizabeth than first impressions could ever reveal. From Robert’s, Alice’s, and Elizabeth’s shared perspectives erupts a conspiracy of passion, desperation, and rage that threatens to burn up their quiet little town, and each of them, too.