Denise found herself on a drastically downward slope of life. Her nineteen-year career, as a probation officer, posed new risks. Denise's seventeen-year marriage began to crumble. Then, she suffered a debilitating injury on-the-job. Circumstances couldn't possibly get any worse for her, could they?

"Probation officer shot," said Mom, to the 911 operator. The ambulance rushed her to the hospital in critical condition. "Why would anyone do this to her?" As she tried to answer that question, her survival would be a tightrope walk on the edge of sanity.

Denise Smith's memoir, "Back from...