"Harry Monmouth's in trouble--big trouble. He's a nice young man whom no one--including Harry--takes very seriously. When his girlfriend, Alexis Bradford, announces his impending fatherhood, his marriage proposal is met with a lukewarm response and the baby's future is in doubt. In his effort to win Alex over, he opens a door to the past that threatens to destroy him. He discovers the systematic misery imposed on New Hope's less fortunate citizens, and uncovers larceny of monumental proportions. At the same time, a botched abortion leads to trumped-up murder charges that divide his quiet little college town"--Page 4 of cover.