Book excerpt: After two marriages, one good and one cataclysmic, Paul Dexter begins to hide under a turtle-shell-veneer to guard against any woman inveigling her way into his reclusive lifestyle. Even though his business exposes him to lustful temptations, Paul is the devout nonconformist and evades all relationships with women. While vacationing in Panama City, Florida, he is teased by a curvaceous woman who does everything but seduce him. Although tempted, Paul flees to avoid anymore sexual overtures. He is blithely unaware that he has evaded a fatal encounter with an audacious serial killer. Five years later, he is contacted by the same woman. This time though, he succumbs to the ravages of celibacy fatigue, and settles into what he thinks is an idyllic marriage. But when Paul slowly begins to discover his wife’s nefarious past, he worries whether he will become another victim.