Don Birnam is a sensitive, charming and well-read man. Yet when left alone for a few days by his brother, he struggles with his overwhelming desire for alcohol, succumbs to it and, in the resulting prolonged agony, goes over much of his life up to and including the lost weekend.

"So powerful and understanding that many readers will find themselves riveted to their chairs until the end....A mystery story, a horror story and a revelation of the forces that can move a man; a journey into fear, into the abyss." (Saturday Review of Literature)