After the shocking beginning, there is not much overt action in this novel. Much happens, nonetheless. McFarland's interest is in the effects of Malcolm's murder on the three people closest to him, and he examines their responses in minute and perceptive detail, going over the same time periods more than once, from both Sarah's and Deck's points of view.

The author's skill lies in his ability to evoke subtle feelings precisely: Sarah's shock, self-blame, and mourning, and the effects of these on her physical health (there's a beautifully observed visit to a chiropractor for her back pain); Deck's own grief, and the effect it has on his mental health, reactivating memory problems associated with the post traumatic stress disorder he has suffered since the Vietnam War; and, seen through the adults' often incompatible perspectives, Harry's struggle to come to terms both with the loss of his father and with his mother's newly evident fragility. Sarah and Deck are different, in gender, race, and class, and in what they expect of the world. The novel, in its unraveling of these expectations and responses, offers a moving exploration of loss and its aftermath.