Lieth Von Stein and his wife, Bonnie Von Stein are attacked while sleeping in their Smallwood home in North Carolina. Bonnie Von Stein survived. Lieth was not so lucky. Bonnie has trouble dealing with the fact that her own son, Christopher Pritchard, along with two friends consipired to have her and her husband killed. Neal Henderson and Christopher Pritchard plead guilty and testified at the trial of James Upchurch, who was convicted and sentenced to die. Several years later, however, his sentence was vacated and Upchurch is now serving a life sentence.
Joanne Mayfield, head of the parental school commission, behaves like a dictator and makes all the other women her enemies. But when she suddenly falls dead on a party after having a sandwich, the main suspect is Susan, who served her the food. The handsome detective Joe Russo interrogates her repeatedly and they become friends. He invites her to help him with the investigation, what she happily accepts - too happily, says her husband.
After a series of small tremors in Los Angeles, Dr. Clare Winslow, a local seismologist, pinpoints the exact location and time of when the long awaited earthquake--"The Big One"--will strike southern California. With this information, she must battle city officials to release this information to the general public. Also, she hopes that her family is out of harms way when the quake strikes. Subplots show how other families and people cope with the the tremors that strike before the impending "Big One."
Nora Scoonover is 35, divorced, in debt and going nowhere when her 16 year-old son, Steven, runs away from camp and asks to spend the summer with her. Together they decide that she will enter the Ironman Triathlon competition in Hawaii, although she has not done any running since high school. The experience brings them together.
