Situated on the west shore of the Hudson River, the city of Newburgh was connected by the Erie Railroad to seven other towns and the Erie mainline. Only five miles of this once bustling branchline survive today. "A walk along the Erie's Newburgh branch takes a mile marker by mile marker look at this nineteen-mile branchline. With emphisis on the fourteen miles that were abandoned by Conrail in 1983-84.

When Susan Stokes finally rids herself of her abusive husband, she thinks that the worst is behind her. After marriage to Gary, she is understandable leery of romance, and devotes herself to her baby daughter, a parting gift of which Gary is unaware. She very nearly loses her life, as well as that of her daughter, when a freak car-fire totally destroys her three-month-old automobile. If it weren't for the heroic efforts of a truck-driver named Ron Blake who is following behind her at the time, she would have been cremated on the side of Interstate 10 between Beaumont, Texas and Houston. Over the next couple of weeks, one thing leads to another, and despite her determination to not "leap into another love affair," what begins as sincere gratitude gradually turns into a deep and abiding love, and the feeling is mutual. Gary Stokes, however, is nurturing a hatred for Susan as cold and bitter as interstellar space. He has plans of his own, all of which involve Susan's untimely demise, in as painful a manner as possible. The next several weeks of Susan's life turn into a nightmare that far eclipses the misery of her marriage to Gary Stokes.

If you are one of the 6,907,515,489 people in the world who are not Mark Robert McCue, congratulations! You have made a bold new discovery today. You have just discovered a book full of romance, magic, and adventure. But not really. What you have actually discovered is the story of two brothers out of their comfort zones and forced to rediscover each-other as human beings. Sounds like a cute story right? Now let's say we throw in some stolen jewelry, UFO insurance, bad poetry, flowers, and what story is ever complete without bears? And not those cute colorful ones you see on TV. I mean bears with teeth. Awesome. However, if you are the one person out of 6,907,515,490 people that is Mark Robert McCue, might want to pick up some milk. The stuff in the fridge is past expiration.