Psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware meets beautiful and emotionally fragile TV actress Zelda Chase when called upon to evaluate her five-year-old son, Ovid. Years later, Alex is unexpectedly reunited with Zelda when she is involuntarily committed after a bizarre psychotic episode. Shortly after Zelda’s release, an already sad situation turns tragic when she is discovered dead on the grounds of a palatial Bel Air estate. Having experienced more than enough of L.A.’s dark side to recognize the scent of evil, Alex turns to his friend LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis for help in finding out who ended Zelda’s broken life. At the same time, Alex is caught up in another quest: the search for Zelda’s missing son. And when other victims vanish from the same upscale neighborhood, worry turns to terror. As Alex struggles to piece together the brief rise and steep fall of a gorgeous, talented actress, he and Milo unveil shattered dreams, the corruption of a family, and a grotesque betrayal of innocence. With each devastating revelation and damning clue, Alex’s brilliant mind is challenged as never before—and his determination grows to see a killer caged and the truth set free.


心理醫生艾力克斯•特拉華首次和美麗動人卻敏感脆弱的電視女演員塞爾妲•翠絲碰面，是為了診斷她 5 歲大的兒子阿米德。幾年後，艾力克斯沒料到，再見到塞爾妲時，竟是她自己精神病發作而被強制治療送醫。塞爾妲出院後不久，原本情況就令人鼻酸，現在慘上加慘，她被發現陳屍在貝沙灣一間富麗堂皇的度假莊園中。由於艾力克斯已經經歷過太多洛杉磯的黑暗面，這件事讓他心裡湧起一股不祥的預感。他轉而求助好友洛杉磯警局探長米洛•史特吉斯，一同追查殺害賽爾妲、終結她破碎一生的兇手。此時，艾力克斯又面臨另一個不速之請：尋找賽爾妲失蹤的兒子，而同一個精華住宅區也傳出有其他受害者失蹤，這讓原本的擔憂轉為恐懼。艾力克斯絞盡腦汁，設法拼湊出這位美麗演藝才女的生涯起，從她快速串紅，到最後一夕殞落。艾力克斯和米洛揭開了一個又一個破碎的夢、一個家族的貪腐及一場醜陋泯滅良心的背叛。每當艾力克斯發現駭人的實情及鐵證，都面臨前所未有的考驗，也讓他決心一定要將兇嫌送進監牢，讓真相大白。