Inspired by a true story, Nikolas Renzetti's life is not how he had planned it. Alienated from his children and on the verge of divorce, his escape from what was now reality, seems all but certain. For the first time, Nikolas begins to question his own mortality. His only daughter, Annabelle, has been killed in a terrible car accident. Her death was instantaneous--at least that's what authorities told him. The accident was unavoidable, or was it? His search for the truth may alter the course of his life forever. His wife Maria, having survived a cancer operation in the first year of their marriage, has turned on her staunchest supporter. Embroiled in a torrid affair, Nikolas is on the brink of a nervous breakdown. How does he survive his wife's attack on his character and her ruthless use of one of the cruelest forms of child abuse? A brutal fight ensues; will it threaten the freedom of Nikolas and his oldest son? In The Syndrome, Paul Rega does a masterful job of extracting what can only be described as raw emotion from his audience, in his most compelling novel yet. child abuse, parental alienation syndrome, divorce, separation, family relationships, dysfunctional relationships, parenting, pas, extramarital affair