Benevolence

Lance Hawthorne, his life irrevocably altered by his witness of a horrific crime at the innocent age of ten, is cursed to shoulder the yoke of guilt for taking no action to report the crime's perpetrators, despite his having rock-solid evidence. His guilt deepens after the death of his beloved mother five years later, a death he is convinced he caused. Hawthorne drifts through life, his faith shattered, his risk-aversion having rendered him all but fearful of his shadow. Until the fateful office poker game offers him a chance to return to his boyhood home of Benevolence -- and to the hell that awaits him. Lance Hawthorne is a man rushing headlong into his twilight, haunted by a past that won't let go and a future that won't let up.