You never know, that's all, there's no way of knowing … Last week our lives were all right … But now I think we're going to be murdered. Just like that.” So begins The Shadow Knows, a novel whose major theme is a woman's panic about the possibility of danger to her family. She is not alone; Americans are increasingly fearful of violence as it becomes more pervasive. According to the 1982–83 Statistical Abstract of the U.S., published by the Bureau of the Census, one of every 30 people over 12 years old was the victim of violence in 1980. And those statistics refer only to reported violence; they do not include the victims of private violence: child abuse, incest, or spouse beating. Such domestic violence more than doubled between 1976 and 1981, and accounts for more than one‐third of the nation's police forces' time. The statistics pertaining to women are particularly worrisome. A woman's chances of being raped at some point in her life are now one in ten—and her chances of being injured by battery are even greater. Such statistics are very frightening.