Retribution, Understanding and Change Must Begin Somewhere

"And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."
- Deuteronomy (ch. XIX, v. 21)

Kate Jones had one simple goal in life - to become rich and have everything she ever dreamed of - at whatever cost.

A hugely successful criminal defense attorney with one of New York's finest law firms, and with the trophy fiance, swanky apartment, flashy car, and equally vain circle of friends already in place, she'd almost made it - all that was left was to make partner, and that had been promised already. But the dream was about to end there.

Returning to work one afternoon, Kate is handed a note by a homeless stranger, informing her that a bomb has been planted in a nearby cafe. Not having any time for the homeless and already late for a very important meeting, she ignores the warning, thinking maybe she'll do something about it later on after work, if she has time before her dinner appointment with a very important client.

At 5.30pm a terrific blast rocks the entire block, and rushing to her office window Kate is horrified to see flames spewing from the windows of the cafe on the corner, bodies strewn across the sidewalk, and blood splattered everywhere - twenty five people are later confirmed dead.

From that moment on, Kate's life is changed forever. Feeling responsible for twenty five deaths, she is completely overcome with unfamiliar feelings of guilt, and quickly loses her job, her fiance, her nice apartment, everything. Paranoia soon follows - does anyone know about the note? Does anyone know she knew about the bomb? Are the police about to come knocking at her door to arrest her? Will she go to jail for this?

Now, three months on, she finds herself in a cheap run-down one room apartment, without a job, without money, without friends, drinking herself into oblivion, with only one goal - to forget!

Then the nightmares start - terrifying images of a young woman in obvious pain. Who is this woman? Is she even real, or just a figment of Kate's tortured mind? The nightmares become more and more frequent, growing more and more terrifying, more and more brutal - there's nothing Kate can do to shut them out, except drink more and more, and try and sleep less and less.

Leaving a bar after a particularly heavy session of self pity, Kate collapses in a drunken and exhausted heap. When she wakes up, she's lying on her bed, with no memory of how she got back into her apartment, and only a plain brown envelope lying beside her as evidence that she didn't do it alone.

The envelope contains a clipping from the Manhattan Tribune reporting the mysterious disappearance of one of their employees, a Sam Michaels. Looking at the accompanying photo, Kate is shocked to see that this is the woman in her nightmares - even more disturbing is that she went missing only four days ago, three weeks after the nightmares began. Along with the clipping is a hastily written note simply telling Kate: "If you want to help yourself, help her!".

Who is Sam Michaels? What happened to her? Who picked Kate up off the floor, and gave her the envelope? Who was the homeless man and why did he give her the note? Was the note meant for her, or anybody? Are all these things related? These are just some of the questions Kate is now faced with, but one thing is clear - if she wants to end the nightmares, she's going to have to start looking for the answers, and soon, before her own sad existence consumes her completely. But can she really help this woman, when she can barely even help herself?

Join Kate as she steps out of the shadows and into a deep and dark mystery involving police corruption, the local Mafia, secret experiments, family crises, lost love, missed opportunities, revenge, a life's work, frightening supernatural disturbances, and a mysterious and elusive former CIA neurologist known only as Janus.

Next time someone tells you something bad is about to happen, you should think carefully about your next step...

"To be left alone, and face to face with my own crime, had been just retribution."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow