Synopsis: A family secret best kept quiet. Quentin Fears is a certifiable recluse, moving restlessly from town to town, investing the millions he's made as a software creator and always avoiding companionship. Until one night he meets his dream woman, Madeleine. Witty and beautiful, she is as uncomfortable with the world as he is. After a few whirlwind weeks of love, they marry. Perfectly happy, there is only one thing that mars their complete bliss - Madeleine's strange cantankerous family. And one more thing. There's an ancient family secret to which Madeleine holds the key. Soon Quentin realizes that only he can stop her from unleashing an ageless malevolence that will rule the world. But to do so, he must do the impossible - step outside of himself and join the world he has always avoided. Quentin must learn to trust, to hope, and to forgive. How he does it, while stabilizing a vengeful, volatile family, makes for an unsettling and poignant story that only acclaimed author Orson Scott Card could create. (from the back cover of the HarperCollins first edition)