".truly, the world had gone mad. Perhaps it was fitting that I did too."It all began when my father abandoned the family years ago, leaving me with a hearty dose of childhood trauma and a depressive, alcoholic mother. Now I attend a high school in a less-than-reputable part of town, where I am friendless and relentlessly bullied.My fortune seems to change for the better when I encounter Valerie, who swears like a sailor and fights like ten of them. It's love at first sight, and I know I will do anything to be with her. However, my resolve is soon put to the test by Valerie's brother, Richard, who hands me a gun and demands an impossible favour.

We can all leave together once the deed is done, he promises, and find our "paradise," a place to live free of bullies forever.But when we make it to the empty, pristine and eternally sunny little town of Mill River, I begin to doubt my choice. I find myself dreading that Richard's promise was not what it seemed, and that what he calls paradise is closer to my vision of hell.