From the bestselling author of A Killer’s Wife, Victor Methos’s acclaimed Desert Plains series continues with the saga of two brilliant defense attorneys and a client whose confession may not be what it seems.

Two couples cut to bits near a canyon close to the Nevada border. The police pull over blood-soaked Arlo Ward not far from the site of the grisly murders; he fully cooperates with the officers, grinning through a remorseless confession dripping with gory detail. Investigators find no murder weapon, but young, awkward Arlo’s confession is signed, taped, and delivered.

Defense attorney Dylan Aster and his partner, Lily Ricci, are two rising legal stars. They’re hesitant about pursuing the Arlo Ward case, as it seems like a slam dunk for the prosecution—Arlo was covered in the victims’ DNA and admitted to everything. But the state psychiatrist shares the impossible with Dylan: Arlo Ward is likely innocent. The man is racked with delusional schizophrenia, seizing on these murders as an opportunity for macabre attention.

Dylan can’t resist. He and Lily take on Arlo as their client, but once the trial commences, it’s clear that the real secrets and lies are just beginning.