In Lowen Clausen's concluding novel of his Seattle trilogy, Clausen delves into the dark world of sexual compulsion and strips away layers of conformity, pretense, and expectation so that the novel's protagonist, Grace Stevens, must see herself and her society anew. Circling from her neighborhood police beat to the University of Washington campus and on to steamy Baton Rouge and back, Grace will discover that some athletic stars are given special protectionsespecially those playing big-time college footballthe money-makers for their universities athletic machines. Despite a series of near misses, Grace moves steadily toward unmasking a dangerous stalker. And along the way she finds her own identity and purpose transformed by her encounter with her familys roots in the South.