From the Civil War–era south to 1950s New York to the present day's gritty cities and seemingly innocuous suburbs, the eighteen stories in this anthology edited by the award-winning mystery writer Harlan Coben chart the complications---always surprising, sometimes deadly---that arise between lovers, dear friends, and even complete strangers coming together for a single, shocking encounter.

In Lee Child's "Safe Enough," a blue-collar city boy takes up with a wealthy suburban wife, with dire consequences. In Harlan Coben's "Entrapped," a woman's husband disappears and is replaced by a handsome impostor. In Laura Lippman's "One True Love," a high-end prostitute seeks a radical solution to a public relations problem. And in P. J. Parrish's "One Shot," a man returns to his childhood home to learn the truth about a long-ago tragedy.

Other contributors of original stories include Ridley Pearson, R. L. Stine, Jim Fusilli, Jeff Abbott, Charles Todd, and Tom Savage.