"Ten couples live in Tarbox, an out-of-the-way New England town. They form an exclusive group that feeds on petty rivalries, secrets, wordplay, entertaining, skiiing and sex. Discreetly swapping partners, they conduct their rituals under the watchful eye of their self-appointed ringmaster, Freddy Thorne. But when Piet Hanema and Foxy Whitman have an affair, they reject expediency and caution, and for once the other unshockable couples are deeply shocked. Soon couples at play will become couples of war."--Cover.