<p>Harry Ackerson has always found his stepmother, Alice, beautiful, if a little aloof. Days before his college graduation, Alice calls with shocking news. His father is dead and the police think it's suicide. Devastated, he returns to his father's home in Maine, where he and Alice vow to uncover what really happened to his father.</p><p>Shortly after he arrives, Harry meets a mysterious young woman named Grace, and he begins to suspect that she may not be a stranger to his family. But the sensual Alice is also growing closer, coming on to him in an enticing, clearly sexual way.</p><p>Mesmerized by these two women, Harry finds himself falling deeper under their spell. Yet the closer he gets to them, the more isolated he feels, disoriented by a growing fear that both women are hiding dangerous--even deadly--secrets. . . . And when someone else turns up dead, Harry realizes he's in much more danger than he'd ever imagined.</p>