Stranglehold

Lydia McCloud meets Arthur Danse at a wedding party in Plymouth, N.H., and she thinks he's a man she could grow to love. Arthur sees things differently. In Lydia, he sees the sort of woman people always want to protect. He decides he's going to show her "she wouldn't always be protected." Once their only child, Robert, is born, Arthur's behavior worsens. When the courts become involved, the nightmare really begins. This scathing novel is an indictment of a justice system that makes a mockery of its very name.

Jack Ketchum, a four-time recipient of the Bram Stoker Award, is the author of many novels and works of short fiction. Several of his books have been adapted to film. Jack lives in New York City.