The Guardian

Nicholas Sparks's first suspense novel features Julie Barenson, a young widow who finds comfort after her husband's death in the Great Dane who has become her favorite companion--a legacy from her late husband. When she makes her way back into the world after her first grief, she gets romantically involved with Richard, a mysterious man who hides a devastating secret--one that Julie comes close to finding out, the hard way, as her lover threatens to become her destroyer....