Levin shows beginning as well as experienced novelists what makes the juiciest conflicts, how to use point of view, and how to get to know the characters. Levin also divdes topics into "The Basics" and "The Finer Points," offering writers two levels of instruction.

Anna Kagen seems to have it all: She's young, beautiful, and married to a wealthy, prominent man.

But within the walls of her San Francisco mansion, she spends her time dodging her husband's barbs and hunting down potential friends for her son, Jack, a 10-year-old on the autistic spectrum.

That old life suddenly seems idyllic when, on a school field trip, she makes the small error in judgment that sets in motion a chain of events that leads to another boy's death. Suddenly Jack is a suspect, her husband's career is in jeopardy, and...