The story focuses on a very important issue in domestic violence. The story is told from the point of view of a young man named Daniel. During the course of the novel, we meet his sister Elizabeth, their mother Louise, and her husband Stanley. Stanley is addicted to drugs and alcohol. He is willing to sell off priceless family heirlooms just to get his next high. These addictions cause him to beat his family mercilessly. Stanley uses anything he can get his hands on to cause terrible pain and suffering to his family. The justice system can't seem to keep him locked up so he can't hurt anyone, and the state agency that is supposed to help protect the family from him fails them miserably. As a result, Daniel sees it as his duty to protect them all from his dad so he weight trains to become as strong as he possibly can. Daniel wants revenge on his dad for everything that he has done to him, his sister, and their mother. But when he gets the chance to exact that revenge... will he greet revenge like an old friend? Or will he give his father what he doesn't deserve... mercy and forgiveness?