The Ripple Effect: It is the 13th of November and Lincoln, Texas will never be the same. Shortly before noon, some fifty people, workers and diners, are in a food court at Lincoln Mall in a small town in East Texas. Others are drifting in for a quick lunch, while they shop for a last-minute gift for a sister's birthday or a new belt, or a new pair of shoes. A young gunman appears out of the dark shadows of the mall and begins shooting; his assault rifle firing shell after shell until mass carnage flows. A class of preschoolers. Three old ladies meeting for their weekly hour of gossip about children and grandchildren. Burger cooks. Ice cream dippers. A salad store employee. A Texas Ranger. A man trying to find an anniversary gift for a wife that he is slowly losing, because he works too much. The reader is introduced to the people who will be in that food court in a matter of minutes. Some will live. Others...will not.