John Smith drifted into the small Montana town of Ten Mile in 2001. He wound up as a deputy sheriff because Sheriff Hank Vosburg was the only law officer in western Montana who was willing to take a chance on him. His first year on the job provided more excitement than he anticipated. Fortunately, after run-ins with local bullies, religious militants, and a major meth operation, life settled down. By 2007, Smith was drifting along comfortably, involved in a romance with May Goering and still trying to decide what he wanted to do with his life. In 2007, life became more complicated. Financial markets in New York and housing markets in California were getting shaky, but Daley County was booming. Land prices were soaring, and outsiders with money were buying up big blocks of land. Rumors of an oil boom were circulating. Then problems began cropping up like toadstools after a rain. Mobsters saw Daley County as a safe place to conduct business. Rich Californians saw it as a perfect place to impress friends. Oil speculators saw it as an easy place to fleece local rubes. Some local ranchers saw it as a place to dodge government regulation and get rich at the expense of their neighbors. And Vivian Kunkle, the daughter of a rancher, entered his life in a blizzard - literally. John Smith found out quickly that there were plenty of serpents in his Montana paradise.