54 pages • 1 hour read
Charlie DonleaA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses murder, death by suicide, rape (including rape of minors), child pornography, alcohol use disorder, and gun violence.
An unidentified shooter invades the Quinlan home and shoots a man and woman while they’re sleeping in bed. When their 13-year-old son, Raymond, comes to investigate the noise, the shooter kills him too. Knowing that the Quinlan family has a fourth member, the shooter breaks down the door to 17-year-old Alexandra’s bedroom but finds the bedroom empty and the window open.
In the months after the Quinlan murders, Alexandra was wrongly accused of killing her family, sent to juvenile detention, and released. Alexandra is now suing the McIntosh police force, who wrongly assumed she was guilty. Her attorney, Garrett Lancaster, questions a police officer (Donna Koppel, who is also his wife) as part of his prosecution. He worries about Donna’s testimony because it “goes against” the story that the McIntosh police established after Alexandra’s detainment.
The night of the murders, Donna (a police officer) arrives at the Quinlan home. She’s greeted by a neighbor who heard gunshots and called the police. When her backup arrives, Donna enters the house.
By Charlie Donlea
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Childhood & Youth
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Community
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Guilt
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Memory
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Mortality & Death
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Power
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Revenge
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The Past
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