Forest fires are reducing chunks of the Boulder Valley to tinder and ash; Colorado clinical psychologist Alan Gregory's colleague and close friend, still recovering from a terrible trauma, appears to be approaching a psychological breakdown; and new evidence in an old case causes Alan to reexamine decisions he made in the past, putting his entire career at risk.

"Blair Scott is in her second season as a wildland firefighter when the Forest Service puts out a call for an additional class of smokejumpers. She and her best friend Jason both apply, though neither expects to get in since they're only nineteen. But it's been a devastating fire season, and they are both accepted. But going to training camp is only the first step--everyone expects the teenage rookies will wash out in the first week. Blair has always...

"In Sterling, New Hampshire, 17-year-old high school student Peter Houghton has endured years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of classmates. His best friend, Josie Cormier, succumbed to peer pressure and now hangs out with the popular crowd that often instigates the harassment. One final incident of bullying sends Peter over the edge and leads him to commit an act of violence that forever changes the lives of Sterling's residents. Even those...