Damaged — Leslie Margolin

Each of us is capable of doing anything under the right conditions. So don't blame Daniel Rooney -- blame human nature, and life, for putting him in a corner, and making him do things he will not want to do. Solid citizen Daniel agrees to allow his troubled, judicially challenged, older sister to serve her probation at his nursing home. A decent, magnanimous gesture. However, when he discovers that she has been using her probation position to bilk one of the nursing home residents out of his savings, he fears his reputation will be ruined. But it is just as accurate to say he is excited. His sister snagged more than a million. To get a share of it, all Daniel has to do is keep the money secret. It's a wonderful opportunity, too good to resist. But from the moment Daniel takes the plunge and signs on with his sister, his well-ordered, middle-class life unravels, sending him on a downward spiral of deception, betrayal, and paranoia. Determined to keep the money safe and the conspiracy secret, this seemingly ordinary rational man will kill and kill again, until forced to make an unthinkable choice . . . between his own survival and his sister's.

Leslie Margolin lives in Iowa City, Iowa.