Madelyn Ives has spent the last eight months in hell, during which time she has battled cancer, become estranged from her daughter, and lost her husband to a younger woman. Just as she begins to get her life back on track, the unthinkable happens-she is assaulted by a man in a ski mask and left unconscious on the floor of her garage. After she receives a threatening note and repeated phone calls from a "breather," the police sergeant in charge of her case urges her to leave her home temporarily for her own safety. She accepts the loan of a beach house on Cypress Key, Florida, where, with the help of a new friend and an old lover, she begins to feel safe again. But she is not. Starting from Zero promises to keep its readers rapt for twenty-nine nail-biting chapters as Maddy evades, eludes, and finally bests the man who is determined to end her life.