In Sins by Sloan M. Coll, eight-year-old Cathryn Barrington-Weiss is the child of a loving, yet weak, father (Edward), an unfaithful mother (Elizabeth), and the sister of five-year-old Jonathan, who is the focal point of all the tragedy that follows. Playing in her father's office one rainy day, Cathryn overhears a family friend revealing Jonny's true parentage at the very moment Edward's frail heart seizes. Soon after Edward's funeral, Jonny disappears, Elizabeth commits suicide, and Cathryn discovers vital documents, which she stashes inside a stuffed toy, then retreats into silence. While hospitalized, Cathryn accepts an offer of guardianship from Dr. Isaac Schlosser, who was Edward's friend. But, on the way to Isaac's home and private clinic, Cathryn is desolate until she can seize hold of her toy at the airport. That night, the first in a succession of attempts at self-harm occurs. Soon after, the little girl discovers Asimov's Foundation series and mistakes her new guardian for the author. Hari Seldon's Psycho History becomes the basis for Cathryn's life work, and Isaac is confounded when he discovers Cathryn's claims that a "murdering bastard" killed her family. Beautiful and brilliant, Cathryn develops her theory of Quantum Psychologistics by which she intends to bring Psycho History into reality, and although she continues to self-harm, she is unable to recall her actions. In honor of both her guardian and the author who inspired her, Cathryn names the program she develops to prove her theory, isaac. Initial success earns her the degrees she sought, and an invitation to a symposium where she will both explain and defend her work. Post-graduation, Cathryn spends a few weeks in Amalfi, where she meets and spends a passionate night with Carl Gustav von Wahrberg, an older and somewhat nefarious man. He reveals he will likely have legal difficulties to face when morning comes, which proves to be accurate. After her return home, Cathryn leaves for the symposium and is able to silence her detractors, but this achievement leads to yet another attempt at self-harm, which is saved from being fatal when she is discovered by Alison Burke, an American doctor. Recovering in hospital, Cathryn discovers she is pregnant. Moving to the nearby town of Saarbrücken, she establishes her household, complete with a household manager and the research team that will work with her for years to come. After one near-disastrous attempt to reach Carl, Cathryn realizes he was right to shield her from his difficulties. In the meantime, her twins, Eduard Carl and Elisabet Grace, turn out to be as intelligent as their parents. Unknown to anyone else, Cathryn has a secret agenda as she and her team prepare isaac and isaac2 for implementation in one of five possible cities. After the site for testing Quantum Psychologistics is chosen, Cathryn takes her children and Therese on vacation to Amalfi. During a solo stroll, she rediscovers Carl, he learns he is the father of twins, and they enjoy an intimate reunion. On returning to Germany, the couple marries and Carl adopts the children just before the team leaves for Harwinton, the city where Cathryn's work is to be proven and also the home of Alison Burke, who saved Cathryn's life. It was also Rick Burke who was behind the events that led to Carl's incarceration. All of Cathryn's professional and private plans come to fruition as the success of Quantum Psychologistics is celebrated at a gala, where she reveals the identity of the "murdering bastard," and Carl realizes exactly how damaged her psyche has become. Yet they dream of happier days ahead when Cathryn reveals her pregnancy. But Fate has more in store for them. Sins "... encompasses love, loss, betrayal, death, birth, revenge, horrible fear, and indescribable joy," says the author, "all of which seemed to want to never end as they came pouring out of my pen and onto paper-bound reality."