Eleanor Wooley is determined to start her life over in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

But when her new best friend suddenly disappears, Eleanor abandons her job as a crime reporter forThe Gold Strike Tribuneand sets off in desperate pursuit.

Spurred by gut instinct, Eleanor soon leaves California and scours Northeastern Nevada during one of the hottest, driest summers on record. Obscure signs appear-an intruder's dire warning, a casino's mysterious graffiti, a random sighting of a killer on the run.

In her search to find Rette, Eleanor discovers the dark world of today's inhumane treatment of wild horses, and when the secrets of her trusted best friend's past begin to surface, Eleanor finds herself in grave danger. With the backdrop of the American West's high desert wilderness and its towering, rugged mountains and vast open range, Eleanor is forced to decide if continuing her search for Rette is worth losing her own life.