Augusta Gray is a happily married housewife in Marin County, devoted to her children and to her husband, Duke. But recently Augusta has grown afraid to venture alone into the world outside her house. So she concocts a plan that will cure her strange phobia and, perhaps, improve her marriage: she intends to write an international jogging book. — Despite Duke's initial ridicule, Augusta runs out into the world she has previously feared - the hills and valleys near San Francisco, Marin County, even Honolulu. She discovers that her body loves to run, needs to run. She also discovers Daniel, an old friend, a merchant sailor who when ashore is also a runner. He becomes her lover. Unaware of impending doom, Augusta grapples eagerly with her sudden transformations. She barely notices the presence in her life of a mysterious red-haired man. Ephraim Johnstone, Augusta's pursuer, is the assassin - young, brilliant, complicated, and without peer in his profession. But he is alarmed to discover that a mere housewife is proving to be the most difficult target of his career. «