Dan Golden is a graduate student trying to explain variations in urban mortality rates. In the process of finishing what he thought was going to be two or three days of routine research, he stumbles into a network of local intrigue and corruption. But the more important story involves Dan's personal odyssey. His work leads him to a series of intriguing individuals who change his thinking on life and death. What began as a fairly routine graduate thesis ends up changing lives in ways that seemed unpredictable but, as the story unfolds, take on the characteristic of inevitability.About the Author: After earning a doctorate in sociology, Dan Krause was a university professor for more than twenty-five years. He was the department chair for thirteen years, and published two academic books and numerous professional articles and developed academic programs in gerontology and environmental studies. Since leaving the university, he has worked on writing for more general audiences. He and his wife, Mery, and their two neurotic Golden Retrievers, divide their time between the Upper Pennisula of Michigan and the North Carolina mountains.