“Those who like Joyce Carol Oates will love this” dark novel of psychological suspense by the author of Mind of Winter and The Life Before Her Eyes (Kirkus Reviews).

A married motel receptionist in a bleak Michigan town, Leila Murray has slipped into the habit of trading sex with strangers for money. When she meets a drifter who alternately sweet-talks and physically abuses her, it might be the wake-up call that dissuades her from a life of prostitution. Instead, she allows him to become her pimp.

In this chilling, “beautifully written page-turner” (Booklist), we follow Leila’s life as she spirals out of control—and learn the darkness in her past that drives her—in “an exploration of the legacy of abuse and violence [and] an amazing first novel” (The Boston Globe).

“[An] extremely powerful debut … Profoundly disturbing but also resonant with hope and rebirth. ” —Los Angeles Times