From Publishers Weekly This beautifully observed story， a BOMC alternate in cloth， centers around a Virginia college student in his mid-20s who is traumatized by a violent event. Author tour. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information， Inc. From Library Journal Expecting their first child， moody， impatient Charles Connolly and his somewhat dismayed young wife Carol travel to Chicago to celebrate Christmas with Charles's mother. During this visit， Charles is temporarily held hostage with a group of customers in a convenience store--an incident that ends in bloodshed. This random act of violence shatters the couple's marriage and leaves Charles paralyzed by guilt and fear. Praised as a hero who saved another's life， he is obsessed by the deaths he could not prevent and the realization that he did nothing heroic. Furthermore， the incident unleashes in Charles traumatic memories of violence suffered at the hands of his own father and fears that he too will be an abusive parent. Bausch's fifth novel is both a haunting tale of tangled events and a powerful psychological study.- Albert E. Wilhelm， Tennessee Technological Univ.， CookevilleCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information， Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. See all Editorial Reviews