From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde comes an
emotional novel of how one man's life changes forever when he
rediscovers his ability to feel the pain of others.
Something has been asleep in forty-year-old cattle rancher Aiden
Delacorte for a long time. It all comes back in a rush during a hunting
trip, when he's suddenly attuned to the animals around him, feeling
their pain and fear as if it were his own. But the newfound sensitivity
of Aiden's "wake up" has its price. He can no longer sleepwalk through
life, holding everyone at arm's length. As he struggles to cope with a
trait he's buried since childhood, Aiden falls in love with Gwen, a
single mother whose young son bears a burden of his own.
Sullen and broken from his experiences with an abusive father, Milo has
turned to acting out in violent and rebellious ways. Aiden can feel the
boy's pain, as well as that of his victims. Now he and Milo must sift
through their pasts to find empathy with the innocent as well as the
guilty, to come to terms with their deepest fears, and to finally
discover the compassionate heart of a family.