A novel of tragedy and redemption in a tiny California moutain town. Sheriff Buck Thompson is in a high stakes gamble for reelection. If his long-hidden secrets come out, he'll not only be out of office, he'll never be able to show his face in Sierra County again. Meanwhile, high school teacher Greg Fulton faces the loss of his job and reputation in defending his former faculty mentor in a sex scandal. But when the local newspaper publisher's twelve-year-old son drowns in a river accident, old attitudes change and previous certainties are up for grabs. A compelling portrait of what it means to belong--really belong--to a community and a place.