When Detective Cal Sheehan learns no one s heard from his childhood friend Mike Hawk Hawkinson in days, he begins an unofficial investigation. Cal follows a lead from Minnesota to Las Vegas, and back again. When Hawk s car is later found abandoned north of Prairie Falls, Birch County officially opens a missing person s case, which allows Cal to hunt for his buddy and investigate the strange circumstances surrounding his disappearance. But Cal doesn t know whether he s conducting a search and rescue or a kidnapping and murder investigation all as he s dealing with the blowback from a family tragedy."