Synopsis:

Keith Barker, a young Mormon missionary, knocks on the door of nineteen-year old Patty Jenkins.  He is unaware that one step inside this home will catapult him into the disturbing life of an accomplished sociopath.  Patty appears to be a young woman in desperate need of a good friend.  Keith listens to the horrific tales of her childhood: abused at the hands of her alcoholic father, raped at the age of thirteen, bounced in and out of the foster care system.  He’s hooked.  He views himself as her protector and is determined to help her escape from the horrible life she lives.  A physical relationship begins, one which results in Keith being sent home from his mission, putting his membership in the Mormon Church in jeopardy.  An unexpected pregnancy sets off a chain of events that will take the Barker family to the brink of disaster.
 

Patty travels over two thousand miles by bus to marry Keith.  From the moment she steps off the bus, the Barker family is thrown into turmoil as they struggle to understand how their smart young son could become entangled with this homely, pitiful creature.  It soon becomes apparent that all is not what it seems with Patty. 
 

As Keith’s mother, I begin the frightening inquiry into the life of this stranger now living in my home.  My unforeseen journey has led me to the study of sociopaths (a person devoid of conscience), Munchausen by Proxy (a mental disorder where the caregiver, usually a mother, makes the child sick in order to garner attention for herself), and to the determination that something must be done to save Keith’s son Steven from his own mother.  This is the true story that spans the space of eleven long years and our quest to rescue Steven from the madness that surrounds him.