Ronnie often looked after her two young sisters and was careful in her care of them. One afternoon, during a game of hide and seek, a very mentally disturbed young man happened upon the two younger girls and murdered them. Ronnie stumbled upon their still warm bodies while the young man sat sobbing nearby.

The murders made a ghost out of Ronnie's once active mother. She is almost nine months pregnant with her next child and has no feeling whatsoever; all she wants to do is sleep and forget. Ronnie's father is devastated and takes to walking the countryside way into the night.

Ronnie's family are Mormons and strong believers in their religion. Ronnie does all she can to hold her family together while dealing with the horror she witnessed. Her new brother is born and her mother ignores him beyond basic needs. By tending to him Ronnie begins to feel some trace of normalcy. It comes as a shock to Ronnie after a few years have passed and her parents come to her with a plan. They want to forgive the man who killed the girls, who is soon to be released. Ronnie refuses and a rift grows between her and her parents,

As Ronnie continues to grow, she comes up with a plan to get close to the killer and his new family. She hides her identity and moves to the area he is in and begins school and is hired as the killer's new nanny. The tension builds and the reader must struggle with just what Ronnie has in mind.

This book was very satisfying. The reader would side with first the family and then the murderer, strange as that sounds. I turned the pages compulsively and was surprised to find my cheeks wet more than once.