Painfully average and introverted Will finally has a bird. Her name is Alice. She's smart, sexy, and much to Will's surprise, she is in love with him. But the course of love never did run smooth, and soon devotion--and its uglier manifestations--lead Will to a dark place within himself.

Elsewhere in the city, Helen is an actress--or she will be some day. For now, she finds work as a "model"--or whatever her online acquaintances need her to be. Her real name is Clair, but she desperately wants to be someone new, someone glamorous and real--someone worth something.

A love s...