It is best that we all strive to lead good moral lives, as we see in this crime story that all people’s actions affect each other. The cost of redemption is great, but the cost of sin is even greater. It all depends on the basic nature of a given person, and the life they are given. The lives of Dolan, Ivan, Lily, Cynthia, and Father Ignatius all prove this. They all find redemption, each in their own way, in their own time, in their own religious ways.

For others, redemption can be exceedingly costly. In Lily’s case, her spoiled childhood, and being raised in a military family that was troubled caused her to seek solace in material things. Self-bondage and compulsive shopping helped Lily deal with her father’s death. Her greed caused her to commit one of the most heinous sins, the act of murder. It was not until she went to prison that she finally found some redemption.

Ivan was the worst of fathers, believing his Luciferian cult ways gave one the right to abuse, torture, and kill others. Since he had been in the highest circles, he knew to whom he could report all the crimes of drug smuggling, murder, torture, and other illegal acts. Those he was involved with were after him...so he turned to the Orthodox church for help....

Ivan’s son Nolan, after seeing his mother and sister die in a fire he was sure his father started, and from which he escaped, grew up with spiritual guidance. He met Lily and fell in love. She helped him in his charity work, but her shopping addiction put a financial burden on Nolan, and they divorced years later, leavings Lily to prey on a man she met whom she believed was wealthy. When she learned he wasn’t, she and an acquaintance plotted his death in order to collect on the insurance....

There are those in the story who never find redemption. They are the saddest characters. They start out good, with careers that would help people, but gave in to their own earthly desires and put their want for wealth above all else. Perhaps in time....