Curbstoning

Matthew Sorg has problems: he has to shoplift to talk to this dead sister; he's afraid his mother no longer loves him; and he's terrified of Kyle Dubbs, a neighbor boy down the street whose father killed himself. Kyle has plans too horrible for anyone else to believe. Jim Rhatagan has a secret: he's a cop with a sexual addiction. He thought that becoming a peace officer would give him purpose enough to help him stop, but it's only made things worse. Now he's acquired a pet, a prostitute name Kimberly Prentice. And lately he's been making her do things... Cecelia Dubbs is worried about her son. He's angry all the time, he won't hug her like he used to, and he has become the neighborhood bully. Every time she looks in his eyes, Cecelia sees Kyle's father staring back at her. She is haunted by the loss of his suicide, and with trying to understand why he did it. Sometimes, she things Kyle blames her for Ted's death, and in her secret heart of hearts, she even worries a little what he might do about it. Curbstoning weaves through the lives of four families from the same suburban neighborhood as each of them cope with the secrets they have harbored. It is a story of grief, deceit, and murder, of love, forgiveness, and redemption.