Publisher's Synopsis
Doug Sirius is a developer who is ready to tear down a building in the Tenderloin of San Francisco to put up a high-rise but there is an Historical proposal in Sacramento that stands in his way. A woman on the phone berates Doug for things he has done in the past, actions that he actually is quite proud about, and urges him to correct his ways. She warns him of the consequences of his future actions making it sound like she can see the future. And how does she know what he is doing when he is behind closed doors? Doug is very protective of his privacy to the point of an obsession. He knows he is naturally paranoid but that doesn't seem to relieve it. A beautiful Asian woman drops by his office and gives him a gift from her mother, neither of whom does Doug know. After the woman leaves he opens the package only to find an empty box. What could it mean? Yet what's most on Doug's mind is will he ever see her again. There is a prank or maybe even a conspiracy going on. So many people close to him are lying about things that have happened. Over and over again he is confronted by these incongruities. Why is everyone doing this to him? Even the Mayor of San Francisco, whom Doug solicits to help getting his building permit, seems to be involved. As Doug tries to find the father of a homeless friend of his fifteen-year-old niece, his own world begins to make less and less sense. Yet, somehow he sees hope in the homeless he meets on the streets of San Francisco, a hope that is very fragile. This young homeless teenager may just be Doug's salvation.
