Clay Burden had married his sluttish young wife, Rhoda, because he was tired of being on his own. Val had walked out on him and if he couldn't have Val, maybe marriage would make him forget her. Six years later, working in paradise City, Clay met Val again. Married to the powerful and sinister Henry Vidal, she had changed...still beautiful and passionate, still compelling...but tense and nervous, driven by odd fears and anxieties. When Clay left his job and joined the Vidal empire, what has begun as a sneaking feeling of unease hardened into stone-cold certainty. Val must be released from the hypnotic influence exerted over her by her husband -- even if Clay had to murder to set her free.