The papers dubbed beautiful Thea Harper Westport a Black Widow. They said she lured Senator Simon Gallatin to her home for a night of deadly passion. But psychiatrists insisted it was a short circuit of the mind, a rare seizure disorder, that had unleashed Thea's murderous rage. Now, even after the trial, the gruesome testimony of detectives and forensic specialists, Thea can't remember the terrifying moment when she struck Simon down . . . only its hideous aftermath: the torrent of blood, the broken corpse, the cold steel bite of the handcuffs as the police led her away. After six months in a posh Connecticut mental hospital, Thea is back home with her daughter, eager to make a new start. If only the community would let her forget . . . if only the chief of police wasn't after her . . . if only the senator's mother wasn't vowing revenge. And if only Thea could be sure she's really been cured. For soon the killing begins again. And once more Thea can't remember . . . even when she wakes up with her hands stained with blood.