Sarai is the story of a young woman besieged by a spirit of fear dating back to her young childhood. Her former Rabbi father, having converted to Christianity and been ostracized by the Jewish community he had long served, moved his pregnant wife to a mysterious island owned by the U.S. Government. Locating in the quaint, largely Jewish mountain village of Cross Town, he preached the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ to all. One night, undercover government agents took him from Sarai's home, charging him with conspiring with known terrorists.
When the charity of her father's former parishioners runs out, Sarai and the woman she calls "Mama", Delia, struggle to survive. Sarai's memory of the years she and Delia lived alone together is spotty, but the bond between them is strong. While the two are living in a small, unheated basement with a sparsely appointed kitchen and leaky bathroom, Delia meets a handsome, well-dressed man from Port City.
Joel courts the beautiful Delia and is nice to Sarai, throwing a great birthday party for her when she turns seven. After seeing his warm, spacious home with plentiful nutritious food, Delia marries him; she and Sarai move to Port City and live in Joel's "Big House." Eventually, Delia and Sarai learn that Joel maintains a house of prostitution. He provides life essentials for about a dozen women in exchange for their earnings from sexual acts performed in his area by the dock. There, big freightliners bring supplies and a few courageous passengers to the island during the three-to-five days each month when the port is accessible. Joel owns two huge warehouses into which he receives secret merchandise.
Joel's "stable" of prostitutes are housed in a large, run-down building overseen by Grizzy, a big black woman from the deep U.S. South. He preys on young, destitute virgin girls, forcing himself on them before putting his favorites into his stable. Each girl must earn a minimum in order to remain there. Although the stable is a pitiful habitation, it is better than the homeless life many suffer on the cold, damp island. Sacrificing herself to horrible acts that delight Joel, Delia obtains his promise not to rape Sarai until she turns eighteen. However, in a rage at her fifteenth birthday party, Joel removes Sarai from the Big House, relegating her to live at Grizzy's in a small, cold room with eleven-year-old Jani.
Sarai runs away when Joel threatens to rape her and put her to work in the stable shortly before her eighteenth birthday. Out on the coldest night of the high Northern early summer, she hides, fearing that Joel and his bodyguard O'Dell will come after her. Finding a hiding place, the exhausted Sarai awakens and realizes that something huge and warm covers her back. She slips into a deeper sleep.
A few hours later, Joel calls to her, "Sarai! Sarai, we know you're here. Come out to Daddy Joel; your mother is worried sick about you. Come on out now. I was just angry yesterday, I won't put you on the streets, nor force you to be with me. You're flesh of my precious Delia and are very special to me."
They're approaching! Oh, no, what will I do? She forces her stiff fingers to unzip the pocket halfway down the right leg of her jeans and pulls out the switchblade. This might stop one, if I get it in just the right place, but not both. Sarai unrolls, crouching on her feet, knife in hand as a loud, deep growl, followed by vicious snarls echoes down the narrow alley between the dumpsters. Who? What?
Sarai is soon embroiled in adventure, intrigue, and mystery on a scale never imagined! There, she learns she is a valuable player in a plot with the potential to destroy most of the known world and must face the spirit of fear instilled in her from the age of four. What can she do to defend herself and stop the destruction soon to be upon them all?