The eight tales in this collection by Nancy Etchemendy weave great suspense with interesting plots and unusual characters. "Lunch at Etienne's" is a story narrated by a woman who is surrounded by death but doesn't seem to realize it. "Cat in Glass" is about a mysterious, malevolent sculpted cat that commits gruesome murders and is told from the point of view of the sculpture's frightened and bewildered owner. There is also "The Sailor's Bargain", a captivating story about an orphan whose haunting dreams lead to a stark revelation of another life, and "The Lily and the Weaver's Heart", in which a one-eyed Jacinth dares to take her place in a cruel world by risking a journey that is usually reserved for the most able-bodied men of the culture.

Everyone knows the almost magical power of the computer's "undo" command that can erase any mistake. Well, thanks to a device called the "under", middle-school student Gib Finney can do the same thing in real life. At first he thinks this is better than winning the lottery: he'll never fail another test, never lose another bet, never strike out in a ball-game again! But after a terrible accident, Gib must decide which events in a two-day period he needs to change to prevent disaster. Was the key when he and his friend Ash saw signs advertising a carnival? Or was it when he argued with Rainy Rogner about their experiment? Or perhaps when he shot a spitball at the math teacher? Gib soon learns that some things are more worthy of "inning" than others, and that some events may be impossible to change at all.