In the small Wisconsin town of Blue River, secrets run deep. And for Henry Howland, high school principal and repressive moral beacon of his community, they are about to explode in a shocking series of events that will shatter the smooth surface of his life forever. Because when Howland seduces and abandons fragile single-mother Mrs. Sellers, the hot-tempered but wildly brilliant son Lawrence, begins a systematic campaign to repay him in kind.