Don Reynolds is haunted in his private dreamland of waste. He cannot separate himself from his tortured past, the women who never truly loved him, and his lost purity. Trapped in the dull world of accounting, the artist within him is stifled daily through a wicked combination of white crosses, booze, and other convenient escapes. In the midst of his despicable life, the elegant yet deceitful Marcy Baker sashays into his life. Blinded by her beauty, he is all too willing to experience the new worlds in which she and her cultic followers are so steeply entrenched. Their relationship evolves from merely casual to sensuous to utterly dangerous, and it may ultimately cost him his freedom and even his own life.

As a prequel to Stepping Away From Paradise, The Elusive Marcy Baker chronicles Marcy's flee from the authorities in Seattle, ultimately leading her to Chicago. As her cultic movement, "Setting the New Course," grows in size and scope both in the public and poltical arenas, so does suspicion involving her in a woman's death in Seattle. With the authorities continually one step behind, Marcy Baker gains notoriety as the "Spiritual Healer of the Modern Day." The book also chronicles the backgrounds of Don Reynolds, Jim Cooper, Jensen and Worthington (popular characters in Stepping Away From Paradise), detailing the events that led to their screwed up lives.