In this novel of suspense and intrigue, Nathan, an English professor from Boston, finds a property in rural Tennessee that dredges up powerful memories of childhood. He signs a contract of sale on the spot, dreaming of a back-to-the-land paradise where he can raise his children with nature and without the stress and pressures of competitive urban life. His semi-estranged wife back in Boston is horrified. And Nathan soon discovers that the property is not free and clear; the former owners are still tangled in a web of lies and greed. Nathan is reeled in, manipulated, and trapped.

Craig, tall, homely, recently graduated from Vanderbilt University, goes to Roatan Island, Honduras, to learn the truth about his father's death six years before in a scuba diving 'accident.' He avoids his mother's cousin, Aaron, who runs the Paradise Inn resort where his family had stayed. He accidentally encounters Carol, who is staying at the Paradise with her husband. She mentors Craig, whose uncompromising moral sense interferes with the deviousness his investigation requires. They try to reconstruct events leading up to his father's accident and ultimately uncover a tangled web of lies...

Nestled in the hills and mountains of Middle Tennessee, the Upper Cumberland is a region of sublime beauty, powerful history, and deep mystery. Anything can happen there. And it often has. Several writers who reside in the Upper Cumberland, all of them associated with Cookeville's Foxleaf Writers' Workshop, have contributed stories to this collection. You're in for a treat. Featuring works by: Eric Beaty J.R. Biery Ralph Bowden Amy Choplosky Sarah Gallo Patricia Gentry Lucy Killebrew Pamela Walton Troy D. Smith

In this relationship story, set in 1994, the background is a typical business trade show. Alison, product manager for a Knoxville company that produces training materials, and John, the brilliant but abrasive older man who creates the company's products, head off to Tulsa, where they will set up and staff their company's display booth. On the two-day drive, Alison learns a little of John's background and is deeply disturbed. She also calls home and accidentally discovers that her banker husband is cheating on her. This trauma wipes her out, destroying her uptight professional control. To her...