The
Story

This debut autobiographical novel is a psychological thriller which chronicles the author's disastrous relationship with a woman, Keri,  who unbeknownst to him has a long criminal history. They meet though an on-line dating site in the wake of his wife's death from ovarian cancer. She is pretty, sexy, fun, and seems perfectly suited to fill the void left in Bill's heart by the death of the love of his life. 

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Keri was adopted as a baby by a military family who had another child "naturally" only about a year after she was brought home. From an early age, Keri exhibits sociopathic behaviors. She is sexually promiscuous even before reaching puberty. She discovers she can trade sex for money from the age of fifteen. Consistent with her sociopathic personality, she becomes quite sadistic towards her brother whom her parents can't help but show a preference for.  

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After graduating from college in Texas, Keri and a girlfriend decide to move to the Washington, D. C. area to have some fun, find work and hopefully, husbands.  Keri meets Colin on St. Patrick's Day in an Irish pub in Georgetown. In short order, they're living together and soon get married. Colin is an engineer with an aerospace contractor who designs air-borne weapons systems. His work takes him away from home to overseas military installations frequently. At home alone, Keri becomes bored and begins to frequent singles bars to pick up guys. One man she meets not only shares sex with her, but also prescription pain medicine. Keri loves the high and becomes addicted. 

 Keri's ability to trade sex for drugs soon reaches a limit and she begins to steal money and merchandise from a women's clothing boutique where she has become the manager in the Georgetown neighborhood close to where she and Colin live. Keri's theft and embezzlement are discovered and she spends time in prison on a felony conviction. 

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When she is released from prison, Colin is mortified that his wife isn't welcome in the presence of their friends and insists that they have to move somewhere far away in order to start over with new friends and a new situation.  Reluctantly, Keri agrees to relocate to New Mexico.

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Even before arriving in New Mexico, Keri becomes pregnant with their first child and within two years of settling in Los Gatos, she is pregnant with the couple's second child. The family of four begins to look and behave like any happy, affluent suburban family. After their second child begins grade school, Keri begins to get bored during the day again. 

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She discovers that most of her neighboring moms are bored, as well, and use some form of escape to relieve it. A few are alcoholics. A few are addicted to gambling. One can't leave the couch in front of the television. And, bingo! One likes prescription pain medicines.  Keri's abuse of prescription drugs becomes so out of control that it rapidly has disastrous financial implications. She and Colin have to declare bankruptcy. Their house is repossessed. Colin divorces her and gets sole custody of the children. 

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Keri's road to recovery from her addiction is rocky and she never fully quits using drugs. After being thrown out of a half-way house for fighting with another recovering addict, Keri finds a job as the office manager of a local church. Short counting the Sunday collections baskets to pocket some cash becomes more than Keri can resist. She soon finds that her crimes are discovered and she is convicted yet again of felonious behavior and sentenced to the State prison.  

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Bill's story begins when he is in his mid-thirties. He has just divorced the mother of his daughter and is grudgingly persuaded to  take a share in the Hamptons as a means to meet a potential spouse. He has been single for four or five years and as he approaches forty, he is despairing that he will meet anyone.  Then, serendipitously, he meets Tracy at a dance club one night and so begins their journey. After several years of a storybook romance and marriage, Tracy is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. While she battles it valiantly, she eventually succumbs to the disease.  

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When Keri leaves prison, she vows to herself that men will always pay to support her, one way or another. She eventually settles in Albuquerque and registers for an on-line dating service at almost the exact same time Bill does. After their first date, Bill is smitten with her. Keri plays hard-to-get, but eventually, she confesses that she needs a job. Bill installs her in one his five retail stores as manager and over the next year and half, she becomes the General Manager for all five stores.  Despite knowing he should be cautious about dating an employee, Bill falls in love with Keri and eventually marries her. 

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Once married, Keri's antisocial behavior toward Bill escalates dramatically. After a mere four months of marriage, Bill files for divorce and only then discovers evidence that Keri has been stealing and embezzling from him personally and from his store operation to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bill's pursuit of justice against Keri takes some unusual turns.

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What's most frightening about Bill's story is that it could happen to anyone.