Lander is the type of person that everyone walks on egg shells around. Including her sister, Miranda. Including her parental units. 

The family vacations during the summer in a cottage by the river. One day, the two sisters observe two hot guys water skiing. Lander claims the driver as hers, and Miranda takes the skier. Then, Miranda sees something that she was probably not supposed to see. She sees the driver dump the skier into a river in a treacherous spot.

Despite the warnings of her entire family, Lander strikes up a courtship with the wild driver of the boat, Jason Firenza. She is intrigued and fascinated by his mystique. She gallivants through the forest with him, amongst their many other adventures. Then, Derry, the waterskiier Jason dumped into the river, winds up dead. Lander is shoved into the backseat of a police cruiser, accused of murder. Lander cannot believe that she is living this nightmare. Her family is just as shell shocked as she is.

Jason Firenza, on the other hand, is nowhere to be found. In fact, police detectives can find no record of anyone by that name living in the state of Connecticut. Miranda is determined to find Jason and make him pay for the crime that she believes that he committed.

• Caroline Cooney's web site
• Books about homicide