There is one story that novelist Josephine Bourdillon shirked from writing. And now she may never have a chance. Trapped in her memories, she lies in a coma. The man who put her there is just as paralyzed. Former soldier Henry Hughes failed to complete the kill. What's more: he never received full payment--funds that would ensure surgery for his son. As detectives investigate disturbing fan letters, a young but not-so-naïve Paige Bourdillon turns to her mother's turbulent past for answers. Could The Awful Year be worse than the one they're living now? -- (Publisher Annotation)

Told from alternating perspectives, the story follows Henry Hughes, a killer-for-hire trying to afford treatment for his sick son, famous author Josephine Bourdillon, the comatose woman he couldn't quite kill, and her fearful daughter, Paige. Hovering between life and death, will Josephine survive--or only her memories?