Sheriff Patrick Drake tried to lead an upstanding life and maintain some financial stability until his wife passed away. He did okay for a while, singlehandedly raising his family in a small mountain town. Then he was hit with money troubles, fell in with some unsavoury men, and ended up convicted of one of the biggest crimes in local history.
Twelve years later Patrick is on parole under the watchful eye of his son Bobby, who just happens to be a deputy sheriff in his father's old department. Bobby hasn't had it easy, either. He's carried the weight of his father's guilt, forsaking his own dreams, and put off the knowledge that his own marriage could be stronger and more hopeful. Yet no matter how much distance he's tried to put between himself, his father, his grandfather, and the past, small town minds can have very long memories.
But trouble isn't done with the Drakes - and a terrifying threat boils up from Patrick's old life. And this time, no one will be spared…

Urban Waite is thirty and lives in Seattle. The Terror of Living was his first novel and he is currently working on his next novel.