Fifteen-year-old Katya Spivak is out for a walk on the streets of Bayhead Harbor, New Jersey when she is approached by silver-haired, elegant Marcus Kidder. At first his interest in her seems harmless; like his name, a sort of joke. His beautiful home, the children's books that he has written, his lavish gifts to her: Mr. Kidder's life couldn't be more different from Katya's drab existence back home - or more enticing.
But by degrees, almost imperceptibly, something changes, and posing for Mr Kidder's new painting isn't the light-hearted endeavour it once was. What does he really want from her? And how far will he go to get it?
