Thinking she is about to die, Phoebe Rivers says a mental goodbye to her children. But Petrel, a stranger, helps her fend off and kill the assailants who savagely beat and rape her. Her disappearing hero turns out to be the long-dead proprietor of a speakeasy from the 1920s. She awakens alone and injured, but thinking she is a murderess, she tells no one about the attack, not even her husband, David. Her life quickly unravels, her children are in mortal danger, and David may not be who he seems. Phoebe's mental reserves and maternal capabilities are tested as she uncovers chilling evidence about David and his new lover. Heartbreak ensues. Motivated by grief, wracked by guilt, and hampered by her inability to explain the ghosts who appear to her, Phoebe tries desperately to protect her family as the past intersects with the present.