"I aint about to let that mule-headed old goat louse up this towns whole future, and you mights well know that right now. I didnt get to be First Selectman by being a doormat, and Im gonna have whats best for this town. And Jud Perry better not dare stand in my way." Jud Perry, in Ben Mabrys opinion, had been standing in his way the whole of their lifetime and now, no matter what he might have to do, it was going to change. All of Dovers Landing was going to change. It was a declaration of war, waged, at first, behind the scenes in several sneaky anonymous ways. Jud Perry was alone now - his wife dead, his daughter dead from the excesses of the 60s, his only son gone off to Canada rather than fight in Vietnam. No one has heard from him since that final father-son battle. Juds defeat would be easy, Ben thought. Wasnt the whole village on his side? Well, not quite. There was Juds wifes dearest friend, Martha, who harbored a secret life that no one in Dovers Landing suspected. There was Sam, his one-time English teacher. There was Dr. John, the villages only veterinarian. And - miraculously - there was his son Andy whose surreptitious return to Dovers Landing under a false name, wearing a face-concealing beard, and accompanied by his wife and two children, lent courage to Jud Perrys heart, and strength to his will to fight. The struggle escalates - as it does in all wars - until arson and attempted murder brings everything to a climax. The mystery of where Andy has been all the missing years is as startling to Jud, as is the long held family secret Jud is finally forced to reveal to Andy.