First published 2002
Billy Bob Holland travels to Montana for a fishing vacation with his old friend Doc Voss, a Vietnam veteran and environmental activist. Doc has made enemies by opposing a local mining corporation. When drug-addled bikers rape Doc's teenage daughter Maisey as retaliation, the biker leader turns up burned to death in his bed. Doc becomes the prime suspect for premeditated murder. Holland launches his own investigation to clear his friend's name. The case expands beyond the initial rape and murder to expose a web of pedophilia, organized crime, and right-wing extremism corrupting the community. Holland encounters an alcoholic mystery novelist, a bitter federal agent, a psychopathic ex-convict, and a grief-stricken local physician who lost her husband and son. Throughout the investigation, Holland battles his own demons from the past while confronting his capacity for violence. The pristine Montana wilderness stands in sharp contrast to the moral decay Holland uncovers.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Montana
Period: Contemporary
480 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Pocket Books
Content warnings: pedophilia, sexual-assault, violence