Frederica Williams is the new girl at Trenton High, having just moved to Trenton, New Jersey following the mysterious demise of her parents. There she meets Alex Murnau, a pale and attractive young man who seems delightfully formal, and Darren, who is pretty much the opposite. Almost as if the two of them are meant to represent opposite extremes. At least they're not at all similar to any other characters in popular culture.

Frederica begins to feel torn between the friendship (and possibly more) of both of these boys, especially as neither really seems to approve of the other.

How will Frederica get through this difficult time? She has a lot to learn about life and love, and throughout the hilariously dry parody of Twilight, dark romance, and young adult fiction she learns to remove the shackles of societal expectations, and come to terms with who she really is in no uncertain terms.

A Dark Hand is a short novella of 12,000 words. The rough draft was initially written in front of a live audience, something which is reflected upon in the included blog post reprint at the end of the book.