Psychologists John Lockwood and Marion Lawson run a sex offender treatment group at the state prison at Santa Fe. They agree on two things, and not much more. One is that treatment helps some (but not all) offenders, and the second is that Leon Darwin is one that isn't really going to benefit. Darwin is a sadistic rapist, a sociopath who goes to their treatment group because it is required for parole, but he doesn't want to change. He wants to get out and not get caught the next time. Lockwood has seen a few sociopaths in his years as a prison psychologist. They often end up in prison, though...

Travis Greer can stop time. Something flip in his head and the world stops. He can see everything, touch things, move things around, but he has stepped out of the flow, at least for a little while. It's like wiggling your ears; some people can do it while most can't. Except this is a bit less frequent. There is only one other Stopper in the world. It first happened when he was five-years-old. His mother was standing right there, but she wouldn't look at him, no matter how he screamed and screamed. It scared him so badly that he repressed it for thirteen years. The second time it happened,...