"C.J. Box owns the modern American frontier.” —Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Cry Havoc

“Raining here, but I’ve got a cup of hot tea and a Joe Pickett novel, so who has it better than me?” —Stephen King

When two children and their nanny vanish without a trace from an elk camp, Governor Rulon sends Joe Pickett to Afton, Wyoming, to investigate.

Still reeling from the after-effects of a near-fatal gunshot wound, Joe joins a state and federal task force and teams up with local game warden Roger McEniry to search camps and hunting parties—but Star Valley is a tight-knit community that doesn't give up its secrets easily.

Joe and Roger are stymied by powerful local elders who seem intent on steering the investigation, and even the children’s own mother appears ready to accept the worst. Suspicion soon falls on two dangerous misfits with motive, means and opportunity, but Joe may be the only one left who believes the children are still alive.

Back in Saddlestring, Sheridan Pickett and Sheriff Sondergard uncover an elk-poaching case that points to something darker. As the two investigations advance, Joe is pulled towards a reckoning with people who will do anything to keep the truth buried.