In Connecticut, a publisher's wife is taken hostage by a suspected killer making a getaway. The man, Dick Dart, was arrested as a suspect in the knifing death of four divorcees in their bedroom. He is intuitive and clever and Nora Chancel, who previously led the life of a bored housewife, can only stay alive by feeding his ego and outwitting him without seeming to do so. Over the next 10 days she grows in stature and courage. By the author of Ghost Story.