Pauley quits his job with the Mesalinda, Texas police force and goes to join his wife in Shale, Arkansas. Immediately, he is involved in a murder case - and this time it's personal. Is the killer someone close to the woman Pauley shot? Is that person out for retaliation? Who is that person? Is Hank Trumbo the killer? And if so, why? What reason does he have to make Pauley suffer and to kill him? Could the killer be someone who grows illegal marijuana and caught Pauley's wife at one of the patches? If so, then who could it be? Was the first killing an accident? A shot fired by a drunken hunter? Pauley is confident someone wants revenge and plans to kill him, but the local police chief (T.W. Dawson) disagrees. While Dawson follows one chain of investigation, Pauley follows another and their paths cross at the scene of other brutal murders. This fast-paced and gritty whodunit will keep you turning pages. And, as is customary in novels by Ecs, the characters are three-dimensional; they are real people.