When events shatter the quiet of his small town, Wade Whitehouse, with the aid of his new girlfriend, is forced to confront his past and reexamine his life.

An abused girl runs away from home and winds up living on the streets of the city. Once there, she meets up with Nick, an ill-tempered, homeless veteran. The city's corrupt mayor devises a plan to capitalize on the Clancy's disappearance in order to ensure his re-election. But the mayor's scheme takes an unexpected turn, and Clancy and Nick find themselves on the run.

Francie lives with a violent, alcoholic father and a manic depressive, suicidal mother. The pressure on Francie to grow up are immense. When his mother commits suicide and his friend, Joe, goes off to boarding school, Francie sinks ever deeper into paranoia thanks mainly to his nasty neighbor Mrs. Nugent. He begins to have a fantasy where he has visions of the Virgin Mary. After his father dies, Francie's becomes more despondent, culminating in the...

Boston University professor Rolfe Whitehouse tells of the events leading up to the disappearance of his older brother Wade. The police officer who investigates is deeply troubled, and the murder case drains his mental acuity to the point of a total mental collapse.